Your Family Loves You Anyway
by metallicgirl42
Summary: This is the sequel to The Mech Code, only it focuses on the relationships and family ties that were formed during the story. Megatron and Starscream celebrate their twins' first Creation Day, forcing them to reevaluate their relationship; meanwhile, Skywarp raises his newborn daughter while trying to forget an abusive lover from the past. Rated T for now but rating may go up.
1. Creation Day

**LOCATION: DECEPTICON BASE… **

"Well, it's finally your Creation Day," said Starscream to his son Stars, who, like his twin brother Megs, could hardly be called a sparkling any more. As usual, Stars was hovering in the air and (as he had taken to doing lately) attempting speech. This babbling baby talk was largely incomprehensible, but it had replaced his infant chirps and squeals, and he responded quite well when others tried to speak to him. Stars wasn't walking yet, but that was fairly normal; Seekerlings mastered flight before they mastered any other means of getting around.

Meanwhile, Megs seemed to be taking control of his motor skills. Since Stars seemed to have inherited the bulk of Starscream's Seeker CNA, Megs didn't know how to fly yet, but unlike Stars, who spent almost all of his time in the air, Megs was trying to learn how to walk and to use his hands. Usually, he played with blocks, although he seemed to prefer punching his tiny fist through them and knocking them over, as opposed to actually building anything with them.

Right now, Skywarp was helping Megs with his breakfast. Of course, the twins didn't drink from bottles any more, but they weren't quite coordinated enough to handle energon cubes by themselves yet. Megs sat in Skywarp's lap and held onto the energon cube with both hands; Skywarp set one hand on Megs' bucket head to keep him in place, with the other hand holding the energon cube. Granted, most of the energon ended up on the floor or on Skywarp instead of in Megs' mouth, but Skywarp didn't seem to mind. After all, since he was going to be a father soon, he would need all the practice he could get.

Gemstone was resting on the couch, one pillow underneath her head, the other in her arms. Thundercracker was sitting on a nearby chair, stroking her head. Gemstone spent most of her days resting, since being sparked up sapped her energy. Unlike Starscream, she had carried her offspring to full term, so the sparkling was due to arrive in only a week or two.

Megatron was sitting next to Skywarp, watching Megs have his breakfast. When some of the energon spilled on _him_, he got a little angry.

"Honestly, Skywarp," he said, scowling. "If you're going to try and feed him, at least try not to do it so messily!"

"Sparklings make messes, Megatron," Skywarp replied. "That's just the way they are. I still have to burp Megs every so often."

"Shouldn't Screamer be doing that?" asked Thundercracker.

"I promised the sparklings I would _always _be there for them," Skywarp replied. "It's my duty, and I've been fulfilling it for one year now."

"Technically, they're not one year old yet," said Starscream. "It's still morning, and they were born in the afternoon."

Starscream remembered that. Although he was pretty sure he didn't want to have another sparkling, the experience of their birth had somehow made him feel closer to them, like he had a connection with them. That was what the carrier bond was—he was able to feel closer with the little twins than anyone else ever could.

Stars gave a little squeal, sunk down into Starscream's arms, and closed his eyes. It appeared to be his after-breakfast nap time. Since the little twins had to be on a schedule, this meant that it was almost time for Megs' nap too.

**TWO HOURS LATER…**

When the little twins woke up, they started crying. It was their lunchtime, and then it would be time for the Creation Day party. They usually were considered too young to have sweets, but since it was their special day, Shockwave sent them some little energon goodies from Cybertron that they could consume after they finished opening their presents.

They opened their parents' presents first. Megs got a miniature gun—but instead of shooting real ammo, it shot little plastic bullets that stuck to what they landed on, but didn't hurt. Stars got a little toy jet.

Gemstone gave them bath toys, Skywarp gave them bubbles, Thundercracker gave them board books, and Soundwave gave them some sparkling-friendly musical instruments. The little twins liked the toys, and they seemed to like playing with the ribbons from the wrapping paper too. Stars chewed on the name tag of his gift (he seemed to put _everything _in his mouth these days), and Megs played with the boxes his toys came in.

After the party was over, Skywarp held Megs, and Starscream held Stars. Stars was chewing on his toy jet.

"Why does he do that?" asked Gemstone, pointing. Of course, she had been at the party too, and now everyone was sitting around talking.

"Sparklings like to chew on things," Skywarp explained. "It's how they explore their world."

"By tasting it?" said Megatron.

Starscream shrugged and smiled. "Apparently so."

"One year from now," Skywarp reminded them, "we'll be celebrating the one-year Creation Day of another sparkling."

"I can't believe it's now but…yes," said Gemstone, looking a little worried.

Of course, Starscream recognized the feeling; he had been scared beyond belief, and nobody knew what to expect. The birth process itself was more painful than anything Megatron could ever hope to inflict on him. When the sparklings were born, they had each been about the size of your average human third-grader—about the size of a full-grown Decepticon's hand—but because they were made of metal, they had weighed a lot more than a human of the same size. Now, though, one year later, each sparkling had turned from 150 pounds of screaming, barfing, drooling metal to a smiling, laughing, playful little Decepticon.

Megatron reached over and patted Megs' helmet. "I remember when _this_ sparkling first threw up all over me."

"Yeah, I remember that too." Starscream started laughing all over again. "It was funny."

"It was NOT funny," said Megatron angrily. "I had just gotten my armor waxed that day, and then I had to go and do it all over again."

"Do you remember when you first held them?" Gemstone asked softly.

"Sure I do," said Starscream, hugging the little sparkling. "Look, Gemstone, don't worry about it so much. You and your sparkling will turn out fine."

"Yes, you're a strong femme," Thundercracker agreed. "Of course you can do it."

"And, you know, I don't get the whole ordeal about 'morning sickness'," said Gemstone. "I mean, I got it a little but…it's not really _that _big of a deal."

Starscream made a face. "Yes, it is, and it's not _just _in the morning."

"Not everyone gets it, I don't think," said Thundercracker. "I guess it depends on who you are."

"Or maybe Starscream is just a big drama queen and he likes to make a big deal out of everything," said Megatron.

"NO sparkling, NO opinion, Megatron," Starscream snapped.

"I noticed that Gemstone had a lot of mood swings, though," said Megatron.

"No, she didn't," Thundercracker objected, putting his arm around his girlfriend. "Gemstone is just as perfect as ever."

This statement, though, wasn't 100% true. Gemstone was usually quite mellow, but once she was going to have a sparkling, she sometimes became as mean as Moonbeam, Skywarp's evil ex-girlfriend whose name was not spoken in base. And that could be for as something as small as not getting her the energon she asked for, or someone accidentally forgetting to tape her favorite TV shows.

"The problem is," said Gemstone, "we don't have a medic any more. So who's going to deliver the sparkling?"

"Don't worry about that, hon," said Thundercracker. "I called my mother in advance. She gave birth to triplets, you know. And she's just _dying_ to see her grandchildren, anyway."

"Less than two years ago, I was a prostitute, living alone in a sleazy Decepticlub," said Gemstone, reminiscing. "Now I'm so much better off. I have a loving boyfriend, and soon I'll have a little niece or nephew to help take care of."

"So if you have the sparkling, and you're dating Thundercracker, and Skywarp adopts the sparkling, that makes you its aunt?" Starscream asked.

"Yes, and I'll be the uncle of _three_," Thundercracker added.

"This is getting confusing," said Skywarp.

"I wonder if it will be a mech or femme," said Gemstone. "Not that I care, of course. I just want it to be healthy and strong."

"You want a femme, don't you?" said Thundercracker.

"No," said Gemstone, looking embarrassed.

With a little grunt, Megs (for no apparent reason) punched Skywarp in the stomach.

"Ow!" Skywarp yelped, taken by surprise.

"On the other hand," said Gemstone thoughtfully, "It would be nice to have a sweet little female to keep me company with all this violent male CNA."

"You don't know if she'll be sweet," Starscream protested. "I've seen you in action. You can fight pretty mean."

"Do you think it'll be a Seekerling?" Skywarp asked. "I'm pretty sure Stars is a Seekerling, but what about my new daughter or son?"

"Well, I don't know," said Starscream. "Isn't it a hybrid of Decepticon, Autobot, _and_ Seeker?"

"That should be interesting," said Megatron. "I've never seen that before."

"Don't you try doing any tests on it or anything, Megabutt," said Gemstone, putting her hand over her sparkling-bump. "Megabutt" looked more than a little irritated, but Starscream just laughed.

"I might have to start calling you that, now," he said, smirking. "Megabutt."

"You do, and I'll rip your arms off," said Megatron.

"Oh, c'mon." Starscream smiled devilishly. "You can't hurt your mate…and you _know _it."

Megatron closed his eyes and growled but he knew it was true. In the end, his love for Starscream trumped his fury and exasperation, and it had driven the hate away. It was only recently that he realized it, but that was what had kept him from killing Starscream on the spot all those years. No matter what Starscream did, Megatron couldn't help but love his conniving little Seeker.

"I could never stay mad at you, Starscream," said Megatron, and he let Starscream crawl into his lap.

"Hey, get a room, friend," said Thundercracker.

"That's really nothing, actually," Gemstone reminded him. "You guys should have seen yourselves at Skywarp's bachelor party! You two were making out like a couple of irresponsible young 'bots."

"Irresponsibility, indeed." Megatron nodded. "That's how the twins happened."

The "adults" talking seemed to have forgotten about the sparklings for a minute. Stars was floating in the air, but upon hearing their voices he sunk down into Starscream's arms, letting out another little squeal.

"That _is _where you came from, isn't it?" said Starscream, kissing Stars' black helmet.

"Daddy," said Stars, reaching out both blue arms, his wings twitching a little.

"What did you say?" Starscream looked shocked.

"Daddy!" Stars repeated, an infant smile on his face, red eyes shining.

Starscream looked gobsmacked for a minute, then held the little sparkling close.

"Aww," said Gemstone. "That is _so _cute."

"I hate cute things," said Megatron, but even he was smiling a little at his son's first word.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Read, review, and enjoy!**


	2. Mother Love

**TWO WEEKS LATER…**

"Okay, this is so _not cool_," said Gemstone, putting her hands over her spark chamber and wincing in pain. "Starscream, why didn't you tell me it would—OW!"

"Well…it's nothing to look _forward_ to," said Starscream rather sheepishly.

"Don't worry," said Thundercracker, wrapping his arms around Gemstone and covering her with kisses. "My mother is on her way right now, and she'll help you deliver the sparkling."

Thundercracker was usually a fighter who held his emotions back and thought with logic. When he was with Gemstone, though, he changed; he was all gentleness in dealing with her, and she was the only one who was able to melt his spark. Yes, he certainly used to have a thing for Skywarp's cruel ex-girlfriend, Moonbeam, but once he'd experienced true love for real, he realized he had never really been in love with Moonbeam after all.

Of course, seeing as how this idea, in Thundercracker's opinion, was corny as scrap, he would never admit it. Skywarp might wear his spark on his sleeve, and Starscream was never one to keep his opinions to himself (even when maybe he should have), but Thundercracker liked to think he was a bit more complicated than that.

"Please don't let the bond snap, please don't let the bond snap…" Gemstone was whispering.

"Why don't you want the carrier bond to snap?" asked Skywarp. "You can't have the sparkling until it does, you know."

"I _know _that," she said through gritted teeth.

Thundercracker tried to stroke her cheek for comfort, but she swatted his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" she told him. "How long has it been now?"

"About an hour, maybe," said Starscream. "Why?"

"Oh, c'mon!" Gemstone gave a little moan and leaned back on the repair table. "Your little sparklings took _eleven _hours!"

"Well, it can take longer or shorter than that," said Starscream. "Don't you remember what Moonbeam—"

Starscream cut himself off and put his hands up over his mouth. It was an unspoken rule around base that, for Skywarp's sake, nobody was to mention Moonbeam or anything remotely having to do with her. Skywarp was still licking his wounds from their nasty break-up.

Gemstone and Thundercracker looked like they didn't know what to do; Starscream's faceplates were red and he looked awkward; Skywarp was looking down at the floor, his black-and-purple wings drooping.

"Oh, he's sorry, 'Warp," said Gemstone sadly.

"I know," said Skywarp, his voice cracking. "I know he didn't mean it."

Nobody said anything for a moment; they all kind of just stood there staring at each other, until they heard a knocking on the door.

"May I come in?" said a female voice.

"Oh! Mother!" Starscream bolted towards the door and swung it open. As soon as he did, his mother wrapped him up in a hug and kissed his cheek.

"Aww, how's my baby?" she cooed, not letting go of him.

"Um, I'm fine," said Starscream. "Come on, everyone's in here."

"Skywarp! Cracker!" their mother cried; Skywarp and Thundercracker both got a loving greeting, too.

"Did you just call him 'Cracker', ma'am?" Gemstone asked, giggling.

"Didn't he tell you?" Starscream smirked. "TC's childhood nickname was 'Cracker'."

"Oh, it's nothing to be ashamed of," said his mother. "My little Seekerling just couldn't pronounce the 'Thunder', that's all. You know, his speech was still developing."

"Mother, please, I'm not a Seekerling any more." This time it was Thundercracker's turn to blush.

"It's just so nice to see you all again!" she cried, giving her sons one more hug and kiss each.

Gemstone gasped, clutched at her chest, and squeaked.

"You're the carrier, aren't you?" said the Command Trine's mother gently, sitting down on the edge of the repair table and taking Gemstone's hand in hers.

"Yes ma'am," said Gemstone nervously, her voice rising in pitch with every word. "I just don't think I can have this sparkling. I mean, I've never ever done it before, and I don't know how, and I-I don't think I'm strong enough to—"

"Just relax, dear," Starscream's mother soothed. "Your body knows how. Has the carrier bond broken yet?"

Gemstone shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "Not yet."

Thundercracker had never seen Gemstone so scared—usually she had a lot of courage. So he was worried about her, especially when she let out a loud scream.

"I think the bond just broke," said Starscream.

**THAT NIGHT…**

The light was fading, and most of the Decepticons were having their dinner—sweet, high-grade energon to fill them up for the night. They watched TV, and got ready to go to bed. This was when, after almost thirteen hours, the sparkling was born.

Starscream noticed that his mother was being awfully gentler with Gemstone than Moonbeam had been with him; she was speaking to Gemstone in a soft, comforting voice, never losing her patience, and she was always encouraging. Whereas all Starscream could remember about the twins' birth (besides eleven hours of torture) was Moonbeam barking at him to push and appearing very unhappy when he didn't feel like forcing something alive out of his body.

"Oh, this is so horrible!" Gemstone cried, her eyes shut, throwing her arms up and inadvertently smacking Thundercracker in the face.

"What the—OW!" yelled Thundercracker, holding his face, remembering how he'd gotten his arm ripped off by Starscream when the twins were being born. That had also hurt. Next time someone had a sparkling, he decided, he would stay VERY far away from the carrier until the birth process was over.

"Please, please make this stop!" Gemstone begged.

"There's not much more I can do, dear." Starscream's mother calmly shook her head. "Your body delivers your sparkling naturally, at its own pace."

"Thundercracker, help me," Gemstone said desperately, turning to her boyfriend. "Your mother doesn't understand what I'm going through."

This wasn't logical, seeing as the Command Trine's mother had brought _three _Seekerlings into the world, one right after the other, so she would probably understand better than anyone. Thundercracker was pretty sure childbirth didn't make you very logical, though, so he just kissed the top of Gemstone's head and told her that he loved her.

"You're a strong femme," he whispered soothingly. "Starscream is right. Everything is going to be fine."

"But how do you _know_?" she cried.

"There you go, sweetheart, you're doing wonderful," said the jets' mother. "Now, stay calm, and keep pushing."

"Just don't picture the sparkling coming out of you at this moment," said Starscream.

Gemstone cried out in pain again, grabbing onto the bedsheets.

"I think she pictured it," said Thundercracker, taking a small step back.

"Don't strain yourself, Gemstone," Skywarp told her, looking especially worried for both his sparkling and its carrier.

"How could I _not _strain myself?" Gemstone snapped back as she continued forcing her sparkling out, eyes squeezed tight, but then she opened them wide, exhaled freely, and there was silence. Thundercracker wrapped his strong arms around her pearly white body, looking like he _thought _he knew what had happened, but not for sure.

That was when they heard the sparkling crying.

Gemstone let out an exhausted laugh as she fell backwards into her boyfriend's arms.

"Congratulations," said the Command Trine's mother softly, handing Gemstone the sparkling. "You have a daughter."

Thundercracker covered Gemstone with kisses, truly overjoyed that his girlfriend and new daughter had made it through the birth process intact. Starscream and Skywarp dashed over to see the sparkling, who fit right in the palm of her mother's hand.

Certainly, she was unique, a mix of both of her parents. Most of her body was the same pearly white as Gemstone's, although she had a black Seeker helmet just like Thundercracker's, and a set of tiny dark-blue wings sticking out of her back. Her hands and forearms were black too, instead of white, as were her feet.

Gemstone's sparkling sure looked like a Seekerling, with Thundercracker's wings as the main indication. It was true that, being a hybrid, she looked a little different, but hybrids, depending on how much and what type of CNA they inherited, certainly had a possibility of becoming Seekers when they were fully grown. It was really just the luck of the draw, although everyone agreed that they were lucky to have this little femme, whether she was a Seekerling or not.

"Did I hear a sparkling crying?" Megatron demanded, as he swung open the door and entered the room.

"As if on cue," said Starscream.

Megatron was holding Megs' hand as Megs continued to practice walking, his other little hand gripping Megatron's shin. Stars was hovering in the air beside them, talking in his baby language. Starscream's mother rushed over and snatched him out of the air, showering him with kisses and hugs, although he was squirming to get away.

"Oh, Starscream," she said, tears leaking out of her eyes. "He looks just like you."

"Yes, and he said 'Daddy' on his Creation Day," Starscream told her. "I mean, the one we had a couple weeks ago. Not on his first day of life."

"Oh, no, he _didn_'_t_!" she cried, then picked up Megs, squeezing him and his brother both. "What wonderful grandchildren I am blessed with! When did he start flying?"

"One week after he was born," Starscream replied. "You wouldn't believe how overjoyed we were. I went to get him for his feeding one morning, and there he was, just floating in the air. I called everyone in to see."

"That's when you three started flying, too," said his mother, kissing both grandsons again. "It was millions of years ago, but I remember everything like it was only yesterday. Watching you three fly for the first time was magical for me."

"I hate to break things up, but there's something we need to discuss," said Megatron. "It needs a designation. Is it male or female?"

"Female," said Gemstone. "If you guys don't mind, though, I already thought of a name I'd like her to have."

"What is it?" asked Skywarp, watching his screaming new daughter. It was only right that the carrier chose the name, he supposed—although it was true that Gemstone had named both Stars and Megs, since Megatron and Starscream both wanted to name the sparklings after themselves and had started to argue over it.

"Stardust," Gemstone replied. "I kind of like it, but if you don't, we can always think of something a little more—"

Skywarp cut her off and kissed the sparkling on her helmet. "I think it sounds perfect."

"Do you want to hold her?" Gemstone asked, smiling knowingly. Of course Skywarp wanted to hold her; he loved sparklings and was very good with them too, as he had proven when babysitting the twins countless times.

"Yes, yes I do," said Skywarp, tears in his eyes as Gemstone handed him his new daughter. Skywarp cradled her in his arms and gave her another kiss. She fit in one of his hands, and slowly her crying subsided, giving way to a peaceful, innocent smile. Stardust twitched her wings and curled up into a little ball, her wings twitching as she drifted into a deep stasis.

Skywarp couldn't help it—he started to cry all over again. Stardust was just so beautiful and perfect, and she was his little femme to love and protect forever. Crying, apparently, was contagious; Skywarp's mother started crying too, and rushed over to see her granddaughter.

"Now I can give Stardust the gift I made for her," she sobbed, and took out Stardust's gift.

"You hand-knitted a pink bib that says 'I Love Grandma' on it?" said Starscream.

"Yes!" said his mother. "Isn't it precious?"

"I guess so," said Gemstone. "Thank you. I'm sure she'll look adorable."

"Don't forget, I have gifts for the twins, too!" Grandma squealed, and pulled out two hand-knitted scarves, one blue, and one black.

"You must really like knitting," said Gemstone.

"Of course, dear," said Starscream's mother. "It's one of my favorite hobbies, plus it makes for great gifts. I thought Megs would like the black one and Stars would like the blue one, but they can choose whichever ones they want."

"I think you were right about the colors." Starscream wrapped the blue scarf around Stars' neck; he immediately started chewing on it. Megs grabbed at his black scarf, like he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Fertility is the most wonderful thing a parent could have," said the Seekers' mother. "It's best to give birth to as many sparklings as you possibly can."

"Considering the fact that Seekers have the best fertility out of any other Cybertronian species, plus the fact that our instinct is to spend a lot of time in the sack, you can expect a new crop of Seekerlings every year," said Thundercracker. "No wonder there are so many of us."

"I honestly can't understand why there would be a species with such intimate cravings all the time, and why they would be given increased fertility in addition," said Megatron.

"Well, there's actually a good reason for that, at least partially," said Starscream. "You see, many years ago, before our time, Seekers used to be hunted. Like, for 'sport'. Hunters with one-hit-kill firearms shot us out of the sky, putting our disembodied wings up on the walls of their dwellings as trophies. The rest of our bodies were dumped in the scrap heap, our sparks extinguished and our wings torn off."

"That's horrible!" Gemstone gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.

"What does that have to do with new Seekerlings, though?" asked Megatron.

"After millennia of this heinous practice, Seekers became an endangered species," Starscream explained. "So I guess we evolved this way to make sure our species didn't die out. If our fertility rates shot up insanely, which they eventually did, we had a better chance of survival. Anyway, Seeker-hunting was outlawed, but the primitive instinct didn't go away. It's like flying or transforming—it's in our coding. The only difference is, the reproductive instinct doesn't kick in until you've reached maturity."

"That's how you know," said Thundercracker. "Then you get initiation, at a meeting of the sacred Seekers-only lodge."

"What happens at initiation?" Gemstone asked curiously.

"Sorry, classified," said Starscream.

"Well, I think we got a little off-track here, though," said Starscream's mother, holding out her arms. "May I—may I please hold my granddaughter?"

"Not a problem," said Skywarp, gently handing her the sparkling. "The bib is right. She _does_ love her grandma."


	3. Thundercracker and Gemstone

Gemstone was lying in the guest room bed, curled up in Thundercracker's arms. Never before had she experienced the true love of a mech—obviously, her father never knew her, much less loved her, and she had slept with thousands of mechs, but she never knew their names. Sometimes she hadn't even seen their faces.

When she first slept with Thundercracker, he had been no different…but then he had taken her home with him. To her surprise, he treated her like an actual sentient being, rather than the filthy half-breed she sometimes felt like. She knew that she was only pretending to be Thundercracker's girlfriend, that it was just a hoax to make that bitch Moonbeam jealous, but over time Gemstone had fallen in love. The feeling was so unfamiliar, yet so heavenly. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before, ever.

Thundercracker felt a similar way. All his life he had wanted a femme to love, to take care of; but every relationship seemed to end messily and consist mainly of 'facing, anyway. The femmes he met were too weak, or too shallow, or too bitchy, too…perfect. Gemstone was different. Gemstone was real. There were vulnerabilities she could not do away with, but she was funny and kind and tough and showed Thundercracker who Moonbeam really was.

"That really was a good idea of yours, Gemstone," Thundercracker whispered.

"What?" asked Gemstone.

"The sparkling," Thundercracker replied. "You know, Stardust."

"Oh right," said Gemstone, smiling. "Do you think Skywarp will ever figure out that we had her on purpose?"

"Nah, I doubt it," said Thundercracker. "Skywarp's not really that bright, to be honest, but at least he's harmless."

"It's just…poor 'Warp was so _lonely_," Gemstone told him. "After he broke up with that horrible Moonbeam, he didn't have a mate _or _a sparkling. I knew he desperately wanted a sparkling, so I wondered if I could give birth to one, and he could adopt it."

"As long as you pretended it was an accident." Thundercracker laughed.

"I think the little twins were an accident for sure," said Gemstone. "Megatron kind of scares me, though."

"That's what he likes to do," said Thundercracker. "Scare people."

Gemstone remembered the time when Megatron had offered her a job as a warrior-in-training. That had been so exciting. Even though she thought his strong, manly handshake was going to rip her hand off when they finalized the deal, he had readily agreed. Of course, she couldn't become a warrior right away, because she was carrying and any kind of battle would hurt an unborn sparkling, but, Gemstone figured, now that Stardust was born, who knows what she could accomplish?

Gemstone stared into her mate's eyes, remembering the night they'd met. She began to stroke his wings with one finger, grinning when she felt him shiver with pleasure.

"How to start a Seeker," she purred.

"I don't know how you do it, Gemstone," Thundercracker told her, rubbing up against her. "I've never felt like this before about anyone."

"Same-same," Gemstone said. "No mech has _ever_ truly loved me."

Thundercracker cuddled her. "I love you."

Since Gemstone had just had a sparkling several days ago, they were forbidden to do anything frisky until she recovered, but they still liked to stay in bed together, talking; Thundercracker loved the way she whispered in the dark, how she stroked his wings, how he could always be himself around her, no matter what. Of course, he never mentioned how she had accidentally slugged him in the face.

"All that time," said Gemstone, "I thought you were in love with Moonbeam. I never thought you saw me as anything more than a friend…even though to be honest, I fell right in love with you."

"I was in love with you," said Thundercracker. "It's just…I didn't know it, not truly. I should have, but I didn't really understand the feeling. I thought I'd been in love with Moonbeam, and that she'd be better off with me than with 'Warp, but she doesn't really deserve a mate at all, to be honest."

"From the moment we met, I hated her," said Gemstone. "I could tell that she was shallow, and mean. I was kind of jealous in a way, though. Not of her. Just of how lucky she was, and how she could take it all for granted—she got to grow up in Vos, the Seeker capital, rich, and I'll admit she was a great medic. But mostly, I was sad because I thought your spark belonged to another femme. I always had a feeling nobody would love me, nobody _could _love me."

"I think those mechs who slept with you just weren't prepared for that much awesomeness," Thundercracker said back.

"Thank you, TC," said Gemstone. "Anyway, I wanted to ask, is Stardust wearing that bib your mother knitted?"

"Yes," said Thundercracker. "Skywarp said he thought it was adorable and he had Stardust wear it."

"At least it'll protect her finish," Gemstone said. "And the little twins look so cute in those scarves, too."

"My mother can be a little…protective," said Thundercracker, searching for the right words. "I mean, she has the best of intentions, but she can sometimes be embarrassing. Like, this one time when I was still in Seeker School, she left this huge kissy mark on my forehead before we left, and Skywarp and Starscream apparently thought it would be funny to not tell me."

"What did the other students do?" Gemstone asked.

"Well, I was known as 'Momma's Boy' for the next week," Thundercracker told her unhappily.

Gemstone giggled. "I probably would have called you that, too."

"Did you go to school?" Thundercracker looked curious.

"No," said Gemstone. "Not a lot of young 'bots went to school in Kaon. I wasn't the only femme who became a hooker—actually, a lot of us did. Generally, the femmes became prostitutes, and the mechs went to prison. Besides, the school routes weren't safe anyway. Lots of students were killed, damaged, and/or assaulted."

"Well, that certainly puts my 'Mamma's Boy' incident into perspective," Thundercracker muttered.

"As long as I'm away from my old life, it doesn't matter," Gemstone reassured him calmly. "Now I have a boyfriend, a niece, and two nephews—well, I think they're my nephews, anyway. I'm not sure how this family tree stuff works. If I'm dating their uncle, can I still be their aunt, even if I'm not related to them?"

"I think so," said Thundercracker.

"Even if I wasn't, I would still love them," said Gemstone, lying on her back and sighing happily. "Life is good, isn't it, TC?"

"It sure is, my angel," said Thundercracker, kissing Gemstone on the lips and drawing her into a hug. "It sure is."


	4. Megatron and Starscream

Megatron and Starscream didn't think they could ever figure out the key to their bizarre relationship, but over time they'd thought, _why ask why_? Why not just let it unfold?

Of course, everyone knew they didn't always get along. In fact, it used to be pretty ugly. As a scientist first joining the Decepticons, Starscream had quickly fought for Megatron's attention but was always snubbed. Megatron was always doing something else, or hanging out with someone he'd known for longer. In fact, back then, Starscream had wondered if Soundwave and Megatron were in some kind of relationship, although this suspicion turned out not to be true.

One thing led to another and Starscream, formerly in his own kind of love, eventually became defiant and he figured that negative attention was better than no attention at all. Every time he watched Megatron rule the Decepticons the way he did, he found it intriguing less and less, and wanted it for himself more and more. It wasn't entirely Megatron's fault—maybe he'd always been this way—but Starscream had become obsessed with power.

This led to Megatron's irritation and more abuse for Starscream. Starscream felt like he got blamed for _everything_, and that he was oppressed; he hated being humiliated and getting a beating in front of everyone. Someday, he figured, he would rule, and spit in the face of the one who broke his spark. Usually at the end of the day he was angry, or sometimes if he was alone he just broke down and cried. Rarely, though, did he go to into stasis feeling happy.

Everything changed when they had the sparklings. They didn't have them on purpose. Megatron was pretty abusive to Starscream—and, apparently, they had some kind of masochistic 'facing going on. Only when the little twins were conceived did Starscream have to admit this, and he was more terrified than overjoyed when Moonbeam diagnosed him. And when Starscream told _Megatron _that he was going to have offspring, well, that had just resulted in another beating. Eventually, though, Megatron decided to be involved in his children's lives, rather than ignore them, which he knew meant he had to be gentle with their carrier.

So by now, Megatron had actually turned half of his office into a bedroom for the little twins, because they didn't need to live in Megatron's suite, where Starscream now resided. Starscream finally felt safe with Megatron, knowing how he truly felt. Megatron was not one to express his "feelings"…in fact, he wasn't sure he actually had any.

Not until he met Starscream, that is. The first day they met, he had become fascinated with the young Seeker. Even then Megatron remembered trying to keep his eyes off the perfectly proportioned body, unique color design, flawless wings, glowing red eyes, and smirking face. The jets annoyed Megatron for the most part—they were…different, at the least, sometimes stupid, often tricksters or just plain weird, almost always extremely horny. They had violent tempers and declining health when they didn't fly, but most of all, they were, well, beautiful.

Megatron thought Starscream was great-looking and his personality was, if anything, more snarky and funny. Even back then he had quite a mouth on him, but it wasn't a problem and Megatron never took it personally.

Then again, Megatron had a faction to rule and, later, a war to run. This became his first priority and he willingly set any unfamiliar feelings aside. For the most part, he thought feelings were impractical and stupid. Feelings were something Autobots had, not him, and he felt that getting "in touch" with emotion would be a loss of self-control. Megatron believed that crying never solved anything.

Once Megatron found out that "loyal" would not be a good word to describe Starscream, though, he ended up getting angry at him all the time and taking things out on him, even when the circumstances were out of his control. Whenever Starscream attempted to overthrow him, he threatened him about being disassembled, terminated, choked, melted, or damaged beyond repair. But every time, something stopped him. Of course, he didn't know exactly _what_, but when Megatron saw that Starscream was hurt, or upset, because of something he had done, he always felt kind of…bad, remorseful even. In the end, he knew when to stop, even if Starscream didn't.

Neither one of them realized what they were truly feeling, in a sad, awful, terrible way—love.

"Do you love me, Megatron?" Starscream asked suddenly, his voice high and shrill like a little girl's, the way it always was when he was feeling threatened or sad.

"Yes, I do," said Megatron, and he meant it.

"When you rescued me from dying, a couple years ago, I still remember that," Starscream told him.

"It's like I said." Megatron sighed. "I could never stay mad at you. I probably shouldn't have saved you, but I did."

"Apparently you gave me some of your own energon?"

"Yes. There was nothing else to do."

"Didn't that hurt?"

"Not really," said Megatron, remembering how he only had to prick his finger with the tip of Starscream's wing, the only sharp enough object he could find. Surely, some earth twig couldn't have pierced his plating.

"Well, if it weren't for that energon transfusion, I wouldn't be alive today," Starscream told him.

"Don't worry about it." Megatron shrugged.

"Are you happy we had sparklings?" Starscream asked.

"Yes," said Megatron. "I didn't really know what to do with them…but I guess they're a good thing for us. Some tiny Decepticons for us to take care of."

"They're not really tiny any more," said Starscream. "They got so much bigger over the course of a year."

"Secretly, though, I don't think they like those scarves your mother knitted for their Creation Day," said Megatron. "No offense."

"None taken," Starscream replied. "Stardust seems to like her bib, though."

Megatron ran his finger up and down Starscream's right wing. "Do you want to battle for power again, Starscream?"

"Get out the handcuffs," said Starscream.


	5. Skywarp and Stardust

Skywarp sat on the edge of his bed, rocking Stardust in his arms, watching her drink from the bottle he was holding. She was indeed the most beautiful sparkling he had ever encountered, and she was his daughter, his little angel to love forever. Skywarp would protect her with his life.

Except for the two of them, nobody was in the Seekers' room. The little twins now resided in Megatron's office, while Starscream resided in Megatron's suite. Thundercracker and Gemstone slept in the guest room.

So that left Skywarp and his daughter all alone.

Once, this room had been filled with Skywarp and his brothers, just the three of them. When they didn't sleep, they stayed up late at night talking about whatever they wanted. Then Moonbeam had moved in, and Skywarp left Starscream and Thundercracker alone—soon with the little twins, of course. Skywarp loved them too.

Then Starscream started staying with Megatron in his suite, and Thundercracker started staying with Gemstone in the med bay. Skywarp stayed with Moonbeam in the guest room. When Moonbeam was driven away, though, he was alone for one year, completely alone. When he found out Gemstone was going to have a sparkling, though, he had smiled for what he felt was the first time since Moonbeam left.

But, although he didn't tell anyone, Skywarp still missed Moonbeam.

Terribly. The reason he didn't tell was because for one thing, he thought maybe they would laugh at him, or tell him to get OVER her for crying out loud. In fact, he felt a little embarrassed, thinking that he should have forgotten about her by now—but night after night, he found himself staring at the stars, wondering where she was, if she remembered him. _Probably not_.

Then he would climb into bed and start sobbing into his pillow, just hoping nobody would hear him. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like if she came back, and apologized for cheating on him, and beg for his forgiveness; he would say yes, and they would get married, as they had been planning on.

The day they had broken up for real, after months of fights and hot-and-cold love, was still fresh in Skywarp's mind. Moonbeam hadn't been interested in him, it seemed, but the way he had to find out was kind of harsh.

"_Skywarp?!" Moonbeam cried, tumbling off the repair table and onto the floor. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I came to visit you while you were on call," Skywarp said tearfully, hoisting himself up. "But I guess Sunstorm and Acid Storm beat me to it."_

"_Wait, sugar daddy, this isn't what it looks like!" Moonbeam blurted out, waving her hand in the general direction of the other two._

"_What is it then?!" Skywarp cried, pointing. "Tell me what you see here!"_

"_Well, um, it's…" Moonbeam shrugged and stared down at her feet. "It's a three-way."_

"_Is this the first time you've done this?" Skywarp demanded. _

"_Do you want me to say it's the first time it's happened?" Moonbeam asked. "Or do you want me to tell you the truth?"_

Skywarp remembered walking in on Sunstorm, Acid Storm, and Moonbeam in the med bay. Of course, he didn't want to go into the details, but they hadn't been using the repair bed for repairs. If only their relationship had stayed the way it had been at first, rainbows day after day. Skywarp didn't understand it. No matter how much he tried to think about it, he still didn't understand it. There were a lot of things he didn't understand, true, but this was different.

"_I want you to tell me the truth," Skywarp snapped, turning around so she wouldn't see how hurt he was. "That's what I need."_

"_Listen, sugar daddy, I didn't—"_

_Skywarp spun around suddenly and cut her off, tears in his eyes. "How long were you planning on doing this?" _

_Moonbeam just shrugged again, not saying anything._

"_Tell me!" Skywarp cried._

"_Okay, I'll admit it." Moonbeam shook her head and sighed. "I did 'face with other Seekers…mainly Acid Storm and Sunstorm, as you can see."_

"_Moonbeam, if you didn't want to be with me, you could have just said so!" Skywarp told her. "Why did you need to cheat on me like that? Why did I have to catch you in the act?"_

"_It's purely sexual!" Moonbeam insisted._

"_Oh, like that makes it any better!" Skywarp shouted. "How could you have done this to me? I loved you! We were to be married! How could you do this to me? Don't you care at all?"_

Skywarp tasted saltwater in his mouth and realized tears were streaming down his face. Trying not to let the sparkling see, fearing he would upset her, he tried to fight them back. This had been a year ago, more in fact, but when he thought about it, he felt his spark shattering into pieces all over again.

Unable to control his emotions any more, Skywarp burst into tears. This made Stardust start crying again, too, and Skywarp held her close, both of them crying, Skywarp crying even harder knowing he _had _upset his daughter.

"Don't cry, little Stardust," said Skywarp sadly, trying to choke back his tears and wiping his daughter's small red eyes with her bib. "Daddy's here."

Stardust just kept on crying. Skywarp wiped her eyes a little bit more and then started rocking her, singing as he did so.

_When I was just a little boy_

_I asked my mother_, _what will I be_?

_Will I be handsome_, _will I be rich_?

_Here_'_s what she said to me_:

_Que sera_, _sera_

_Whatever will be_, _will be_

_The future_'_s not ours to see_

_Que sera_, _sera_

By the time Skywarp had finished all three verses of the lullaby—he didn't have too bad of a singing voice—Stardust had stopped crying and was settling herself into stasis. Stardust liked the lullaby.

Skywarp thought about Moonbeam, feeling that he would never stop loving her, even though she had probably forgotten his existence…but he knew he would never—_could _never—love anybody more than he loved his little girl.


	6. Invitation

Starscream was trying to hold his data pad in one hand while Megs squirmed in the other. Skywarp was busy feeding Stardust, so he couldn't help, and Megs was refusing to eat.

"Oh just eat it already!" Starscream picked up a miniature energon cube and attempted to force it into Megs' mouth. "I don't care if you're full! Just EAT IT!"

Megs made a little screaming noise and knocked the data pad out of Starscream's hands, then bit into one of his wings.

"ALL RIGHT!" Starscream shouted, almost dropping the sparkling. "NO DESSERT FOR YOU!"

"Oh, that's harsh," said Gemstone jokingly. She and Thundercracker were feeding Stars, who seemed to be enjoying his breakfast just fine.

That was when Megatron came into the room, sipping on a high-grade energon cube, looking aloof. When he got to the breakfast table, he picked up Starscream's data pad, handed to him, and asked, "Did you drop this?"

"The little monster dropped it." Starscream gestured to Megs.

"Stardust isn't a monster," said Skywarp, stroking Stardust's helmet. "She's perfect."

Starscream sighed exasperatedly, and Megs, who was now crawling on the table, pointed at his uncle Thundercracker and said, "Nug!"

"STOP CALLING ME NUG!" Thundercracker hollered at the top of his lungs.

"Now, now, don't yell at the sparklings," said Skywarp reprovingly.

"Megs has been doing that _forever_," Thundercracker snapped. "Even though he's now one year old, he STILL thinks my name is Nug! I don't know why!"

"I should start calling you that," Gemstone teased. "How's my little Nug today?"

"Gemstone!" Thundercracker knew Gemstone loved to tease, but he had been hoping she wouldn't pick up on this.

"If you ask me, Nug fits you just fine," said Starscream.

"Oh yeah?" said Thundercracker. "Then I'm going to call you 'Baby Cakes'. So there."

Starscream rolled his eyes and, as he let his son crawl around on the table, he took advantage of the rare spare time to look at his data pad. There were some new emails in his virtual mailbox. Sure, a lot of the time they were just spam emails, but it couldn't hurt to look, could it?

When he opened his mail, though, he was surprised at what he found.

"Guys, look at this!" Starscream called. "I got an email from the Official Charter of Vosnia!"

"I've never heard of that," said Gemstone. "Don't open it. It's probably a virus."

"No, it's not a virus." Starscream was smiling as if he'd found a long-lost friend as he opened the email. "Vosnia is the Seekers' planet, which our city—Vos—was named after. I guess not a lot of grounders know about it. Anyway, as you know, Seekers are a _very _common species on Cybertron, but we didn't originate here."

"What do they want?" Megatron asked, taking Megs off the table and holding him in one arm.

"Apparently they're having one of their sacred Seeker lodge meetings," Starscream explained. "Thundercracker, Skywarp, I'm sure you got the same email."

"I'm sure we did," said Thundercracker.

"Wow, I can't believe we're going to Vosnia!" Skywarp looked excited at the prospect.

"Have you been there before?" Gemstone asked.

"Of course," Starscream replied. "You see, a lot of Seekers used to live on Cybertron, but the bulk of them live on Vosnia. The ones on Earth now are the ones who used to live on Cybertron, but the ones in Vosnia stayed where they were. This way, the planet is intact, and so we hold our meetings there."

"Why are there Cybertronian Seekers, then?" Gemstone looked confused. "Why didn't you all just stay there?"

"The reason some of us lived on Cybertron instead of our native planet," Starscream told her, "is because Vosnia is in the same galaxy as Cybertron and its moons and everything, not too far away, so a few Seekers were able to set up small colonies on Cybertron."

"And, as you know, a few Seekers can turn into a lot of Seekers _very _quickly." Thundercracker laughed. "One of the colonies eventually mutated into Vos, the Seeker capital."

"Does it say when we have to go?" Skywarp craned his head over Starscream's shoulder, the sparkling still in his arms, trying to read the email.

"You don't need to read _my _email, 'Warp," Starscream told him, irritated. "You have one on your data pad too."

"I lost mine," said Skywarp. "What does it say?"

"It _says _that they will be expecting us there in about one week," said Starscream.

"So I understand only purebreds are allowed to be there?" Megatron asked. Megs was on top of him, chewing on his helmet, but he was trying to ignore it.

"Not necessarily." Starscream laughed gently and took Megs off of Megatron's bucket head, and then set him on the floor to crawl or practice walking. "Even if one of your parents had no Seeker CNA, if you inherited the CNA of your Vosnian heritage, you can still go. Kind of like Stars, and probably Stardust."

"I don't think so," said Gemstone. "I think she would be flying by now."

"It's only been a little over a week that she's been alive," Thundercracker reminded her. "She might not be flying yet, but if she's a Seekerling, which I think she is, she will start soon."

"Then when she grows up, she can come to the lodge meetings with her cousin Stars." Skywarp lifted up tiny Stardust and kissed her helmet.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to have to say this, but you and Gemstone can't come, Megabutt," said Starscream teasingly. "But as for you two, let's get packing!"

**THAT AFTERNOON…**

Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker were in the Seekers' room, packing for their trip to Vosnia. Along with all the other Seekers living at base, they were to leave very soon, and everyone was excited.

Stardust was taking her stasis nap in her cradle, holding onto the little bib and smiling in her sleep. Every so often, Skywarp got up to check on her.

"Is she still alive?" Thundercracker asked sarcastically.

"Yes," said Skywarp, then turned back to the cradle again. "I just—oh, wow! Guys! Come look at this!"

"What?" Starscream joined his brother by the cradle, along with Thundercracker, and the both of them gasped.

"She's—she's _flying_!" Thundercracker said, pointing. Skywarp snatched Stardust out of the air and squeezed her tight, sobbing.

"My baby!" Skywarp wouldn't let go of tiny Stardust until she started squealing and he had to loosen his grip a little. "It—it seems like just yesterday I held her for the first time!"

"When actually, it was a week ago," said Thundercracker, rolling his eyes. "They grow up _so _fast, don't they?"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	7. The Seekers' Lodge

**THE DAY OF DEPARTURE…**

"All right, make sure they feed three times a day," Skywarp was saying as he handed the twins to Megatron, then Stardust to Gemstone. "Don't give them any high-grade, and we put formula for Stardust in the refrigerator. Make sure you remember to change their diapers."

Megatron, who had never changed a diaper in his life, looked kind of doubtful. Gemstone rolled her eyes and kissed Stardust's head. All three sparklings had been fed and changed, and the Seekers were about to go to Vosnia for a few days.

Meanwhile, Gemstone and Megatron were stuck with their hungry brood.

…

"Slag it, 'Warp, could you have teleported us _any _worse?" Thundercracker grouched, glaring at his trine mate.

"Skywarp's ability to teleport weakens as the distance increases," Starscream explained. "Earth is light-years away from Vosnia. No wonder he kept crashing us on random distant planets."

"Plus I'm out of my mind with worry!" Skywarp added, wringing his hands in fear as they walked through custody. "What if they can't take care of them and they die? What if Megatron drops one of them on the head? What if Gemstone forgets to feed Stardust her formula? What if—"

"I seriously doubt you have reason to worry," Starscream interjected. "I can tell through the carrier bond that the little twins are all right, so Stardust probably is too."

"Oh, how I wish I had a carrier bond," said Skywarp wistfully. "Several years from now, I'm going to carry my _own _sparkling."

"And just how will you do that without a mech to spike you?" Thundercracker asked.

"Donor," said Starscream. "They have 'em right here on Vosnia. Don't get any ideas, though, 'Warp."

"I know," Skywarp said. "I already have a newborn. I meant like when she was two or three."

After being asked to show ID by the airport staff, they were able to head to a hotel. Vosnia was the Seekers' planet, so all hotels were built with big open lawns perfect for flying, ballrooms, day care centers, and bars that sold special jet fuel. Seekers loved having their own planet, where they could play in the skies all day long, practice free love, and just all-around have a good time.

Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker picked out a large suite, with two beds and one couch. Skywarp took the couch, and Starscream and Thundercracker took the beds.

"Well, I can't wait for the meeting at the Seekers' lodge," said Thundercracker, leaning back and putting his arms behind his head.

"When is it?" Skywarp asked.

"It's in only a few days," Starscream told him, smiling. "Be prepared."

**AT THE MEETING…**

Starscream and his Trine arrived at the Seekers' lodge early that morning. They'd hired guards to stand outside and make sure no grounders got in—on the Seeker planet, grounders were rare, but they existed. Like the rest, the guards were lightweights, but their loaded firearms made them a considerable threat.

Of course, the Elite Trine got in easily; when Starscream showed them ID, the bouncer bowed politely and let them in.

It was like a zoo in the lodge. It was hard to walk somewhere without smacking your wings into someone else's, or running into a couple making out so furiously that they looked like they were eating each other's faces. It was so loud that you couldn't hear your nearest friend speaking. There were age requirements, but since nobody could leave their little darlings home alone, they had a separate center of the lodge for day-care.

One thing Starscream liked about these meetings was that, as the one who led the Seekers, he got to be the leader, without having to lurk in Megatron's shadow. Now it was his cue to shut everyone up and get the meeting together.

"Attention, everyone!" said Starscream, once he'd walked up to the podium. Thundercracker and Skywarp were with him. "Order! Order in the lodge!"

Finally, everyone turned to look at him.

"Now, native Vosnians, I want to welcome you to the meeting of the lodge." Starscream smiled as he welcomed them. Everyone else was smiling too; it was so good to be around their own kind. "I have been called all the way from the distant planet Earth to lead this meeting. So, anybody in the house know why I was called?"

"Yes," said one of the elders, bringing his son up to the stage. The young Seeker mech looked incredibly nervous. "We have an initiation ceremony to perform."

"Oh, yes, an initiation." Starscream smirked. "Yes…I remember my initiation. Good times, good times. Not really. Now, for the ceremony. For those of you who don't know, this young mech needs to fly in the air at no less than 70,000 feet high, and 4,000 miles per hour. You also must perform several flight maneuvers that I'm sure you've been practicing, as well as execute a perfect landing."

"I've been practicing, Commander Starscream, but—"

"Don't forget the catch, friend," said Skywarp.

"I-I don't think I can do it," the young one said, his cheeks bright crimson.

"Nonsense," said Starscream. "With enough practice and self-discipline, it's definitely possible. You've finished Seeker School, correct?

"Yes," said the Seekerling, "but—"

"You need to do all this with your wings clipped," Thundercracker concluded. "Without that, it wouldn't be initiation, would it?"

"I guess not," the Seekerling mumbled, then cried out in pain as Thundercracker placed clips on his wings, one clip for each sensitive wing.

After that, everyone went outside to watch the young one perform his ceremony and graduate from Seekerling to Seeker. It was obvious he'd been practicing; despite having his wings clipped, he managed to complete the test. Of course, his more experienced elders were a lot more skilled, and nobody could match the flying skills of the Elite Trine, but Seekerlings had to be good fliers.

When the Seekerling touched down and transformed into robot mode, he saw his parents, along with the Elite Trine, waiting for him. At first, he looked nervous, but then he saw that everyone was smiling.

Starscream took his hand and led him back inside the lodge, then removed the clips from his wings.

"Congratulations, young one," said Starscream. "You've just graduated from Seekerling to Seeker…officially."

Unfortunately, that was when it happened.

It was too late to get Skywarp off the stage; Moonbeam walked right in, still innately evil, but a bombshell as always. Being a medic, her job was to remove the clips from the new Seeker's wings and apply medicine so they could heal. Moonbeam didn't seem to notice Skywarp, but he sure noticed her.

"Starscream," Skywarp whispered shakily, nudging his brother. "It's Moonbeam."

"I know," said Starscream. "Just ignore her."

Skywarp's wings were drooping and his hands were shaking, but he tried to make it look like he didn't see his old flame. Moonbeam kept her cool as she removed the clips from the young Seeker's wings and began cleaning the wounds they had left.

The young Seeker's face was turning an extremely bright shade of red and his wings were up, twitching involuntarily, as this beautiful medic touched them.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." Thundercracker smirked as he watched. "It's his first time in heat, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Starscream. "I'm guessing it's too much for him to handle."

"Should we go talk to Moonbeam?"

"I don't think so."

"Do you think she's dating anyone new?"

Thundercracker's question was answered for him. After Moonbeam was done fixing up the newly initiated Seeker, a handsome Seeker walked onto the stage and put his arm around her waist. She kissed his cheek and giggled as he swept her away. She didn't even look at the Elite Trine.

Starscream and Thundercracker, worried, turned to look at the purple-and-black jet. His red eyes were filling with tears.

"It's like she doesn't remember me," he squeaked, his voice constricted. "I-I thought we had something, but now she has a new boyfriend!"

"Come on, friend, you can't cry up here," Thundercracker whispered, grabbing Skywarp's hand and leading him offstage. Skywarp teleported all three of them outside, and Skywarp sat on the grass, sobbing.

Literally, Starscream ended up being Skywarp's "shoulder to cry on", while Thundercracker stroked Skywarp's wings, trying to comfort him, but it wasn't working.

"She h-has a new b-boyfriend!" Skywarp wailed, clinging to Starscream's arm.

"Skywarp, you deserve so much _better_," Starscream insisted, discovering that his shoulder was soaked with Skywarp's tears.

"I-I wanna go h-home!" Skywarp sobbed.

"Well, well, well," they heard a familiar voice say. "Look who it is."

The three jets had been so preoccupied that they hadn't noticed Moonbeam and her new boyfriend, who had apparently decided to come say hello.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming back here," Starscream told her, scowling.

"Can't I check in with my old friends?" Moonbeam asked snidely, a smirk on her face.

"No," said Thundercracker. "We're not friends."

"Don't you be lay a hand on my girl," the mech warned him in a gruff voice. "Which one was it again, sweetie?"

"The crying one," Moonbeam replied apathetically.

"You better stay clear of my girl," the mech told Skywarp. "Unless you want a good ground-and-pound."

Skywarp wasn't paying attention; he was crying even harder now. Another mech got to call Moonbeam by a silly pet name. Skywarp used to call Moonbeam "kissy-wissy", and she used to call him "sugar daddy".

"So…um…how are you doing?" Thundercracker asked awkwardly.

"Well, I'm engaged to my new boyfriend," said Moonbeam, "and we're going to settle down in a little suburb of Vosnia. I didn't like living on Earth. How are you two doing?"

"My twins are one year old," said Starscream. "Thundercracker is still dating Gemstone, and Skywarp has a Seekerling, plus he got married."

"What?" Moonbeam looked shocked.

Skywarp stopped crying for a minute in surprise, then resumed his self-loathing, but Thundercracker picked up on the plan.

"That's right," said Thundercracker. "And might I say, she is beautiful. They have a baby femme named Stardust."

"If Skywarp is happy now, and he's married with a femme and his sparkling, why is he crying when he sees me?" Moonbeam asked.

"Oh, get over yourself," Starscream snapped. "Skywarp isn't crying for _you_! Right now, his wife is sick, and he's worried about her. She couldn't come to the meeting for that reason."

"I don't believe you," said Moonbeam.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Starscream stood up and looked her in the eyes.

Moonbeam turned her nose up. "I guess I am."

"Well, then, I'm calling you a worthless, scheming, evil-ass bitch," Starscream said back.

"TAKE THAT BACK!" Moonbeam's boyfriend hollered, but they were prepared. Starscream shot him, as did Thundercracker, and before the new mech could pounce on them, Skywarp had teleported them away.

…

The three jets were taking on a break on a random planet, on their way back to Earth. Skywarp was grateful to his brothers for making it look like he was happy and that he had a mate, but he wasn't happy.

"I-I miss h-her!" Skywarp was face-down on the planet's surface, crying his spark out. "I m-miss her s-so m-much!"

"Listen, you'll take us back to base, and we can give you some energon goodies, okay?" Starscream tried to make his voice soothing.

"Brace up, friend," Thundercracker added.

Skywarp wiped his eyes. "Yeah."

"Now, let's go," said Starscream, taking Skywarp's hand and hoisting him up. "You can go see Stardust, Gemstone, Megatron, and the little twins, plus everyone else at base."

"I wonder how the sparkling-sitting is going." Skywarp looked worried. "Do you think Megatron and Gemstone have taken good care of those three?"

"Don't worry," Thundercracker told him. "I'm sure everything is fine."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	8. Babysitting Nightmare

Everything was _not _going fine back at base.

Gemstone was panicking because Stardust was crying for some unknown reason, and the twins were being annoying. Megs kept shooting his toy gun at everything until Megatron had to take it away, and Stars was throwing a temper tantrum.

Stardust let out another loud screeching noise. Gemstone was trying to wrestle her into place so she could drink her bottle, but she wouldn't.

"Oh, where are they?" Gemstone cried. "Weren't the jets supposed to come home today?"

"I guess they're just late." Megatron rolled his eyes. "Maybe they all got stranded on some random planet. Hooray good riddance."

"That's not good!" Gemstone insisted. "Stardust wouldn't have her daddy, and I wouldn't have my mate. And you wouldn't have your mate either, would you?"

"Whatever," Megatron grunted.

"I know you love him," Gemstone said. "I bet every night you dream about him as he's wrapped up in your arms."

Megatron recalled that he _had _dreamed about Starscream, dreams that he probably should never tell anyone about.

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for Starscream!" Gemstone taunted.

"You're acting immature!" Megatron snapped.

Meanwhile, the sparklings kept crying. Stardust still wouldn't drink her bottle, Stars was on the floor screaming and crying, and Megs had to go sit in the corner.

"Oh, man, Stardust needs her diaper changed again," said Gemstone. "Gross."

"How many diapers can a sparkling possibly go through in only three hours?" Megatron demanded.

"I don't think we want to find out," said Gemstone. "It's your turn."

"Certainly not!" Megatron looked annoyed. "Don't you remember when I changed the twins' diapers?"

"Yeah, once," said Gemstone. "And you didn't even do it right."

"Well, I'm not a femme whose job is to sit around all day taking care of sparklings!"

"How dare you!"

"What?!"

"Femmes can do ANYTHING mechs can do!"

"Why did I ever let you on this team?!" Megatron hollered.

"Because I'm _worthy_, that's why!" Gemstone shouted back at him over the screaming of the sparklings in the background.

"You've got a nasty temper, Gemstone," said Megatron. "That's good for when you're fighting Autobots, NOT when you're addressing your superiors!"

Gemstone scowled and made a fist. "Why I oughtta—"

That was when the Seekers can home.

"Thank Primus!" Gemstone gasped when they walked inside base.

"Goodness, what _happened_?" Skywarp cried.

"Skywarp, I can barely tolerate my own offspring," said Megatron, unwilling to touch Stardust and her dirty diaper. "But your little poopy baby has been nothing but trouble!"

"If my poopy baby can't stay here, then…" Skywarp's red eyes were filling with tears as he snatched Stardust out of Gemstone's arms. "Then I can't either!"

With that, Skywarp ran out of the room.

"Nice," said Starscream.

"What's that stink?" Thundercracker asked, waving his hand in front of his face.

"It's probably left over from Skywarp's 'poopy baby'," said Gemstone, rolling her eyes.

"No, Stars needs his changed, too." Starscream sighed and held up the Seekerling, covering his mouth and nose. "I'll take care of it."

Starscream and the still-crying Stars left the room. Megs crawled over to Megatron and started chewing on his leg.

"I hate sparklings," Megatron muttered, slamming his bucket head on the table. "I hate diaper duty, I hate when they cry, I hate when they make messes, and I hate when they chew on things. I hate EVERYTHING they do! Why did Starscream have to have TWO of them? And why did you have to go and have one?"

"They were accidents," Gemstone reminded him. "Megatron, I _told _you. You have to love your sparklings no matter what."

"Easier said than done," Megatron snapped as Megs started making little whining noises, holding his arms up in the air, wanting to be picked up.

"Do it," said Gemstone.

Megatron groaned loudly and scooped the little 'Con into his arms. Megs started to suck on Megatron's fingers. Megatron was about to hold him back when Gemstone shook her head and pointed. Megs was falling asleep.

"Finally," Megatron whispered. "Naptime. The only thing I like them to do."

Minutes later, Starscream walked back in, with Stars hovering in the air next to him.

"Well, I got his diaper changed," said Starscream. "Skywarp did the same for Stardust but he doesn't want to come back here because you called her a 'poopy baby'. Anyway, it's time to put the twins down for their naps. I see Megs is already sleeping."

"I can't believe I turned half of my office into a nursery for YOUR poopy babies, Starscream," said Megatron, picking up Megs and following Starscream into the nursery.

"They're OUR poopy babies," Starscream corrected him, pulling Stars out of the air and putting him in the crib. Megatron set his sleeping brother down next to him; soon, both of them were sound asleep.

"I-I guess they're okay when they're in stasis," Megatron admitted.

"See, Megsy?" Starscream smirked. "We started a family. Peace and prosperity."

"Prosperity, maybe," said Megatron. "But I don't know if we're going to get much peace out of these two."

"Well, it's all part of raising sparklings, isn't it?" Starscream smiled and cuddled Megatron.

"I don't know," Megatron grunted.

"I missed you, sweetie," Starscream cooed. It was hard to tell if he really was feeling loving towards Megatron, or if he was just trying to be annoying.

Megatron sighed and kissed Starscream's helmet. "I missed you too, honey."

Despite the fact that the sparklings were still right in front of them, Starscream drew Megatron into a long kiss. Starscream's hands were on Megatron's faceplates, while Megatron placed one hand on Starscream's wing, the other on his aft. Once the kiss was over, they slowly separated, smiling at each other.

"Your suite is right off the nursery," said Starscream. "If we try, we can make up for lost time."

"Let's go," Megatron whispered, gently taking Starscream's hand and leading him away.


	9. Visitor

**SEVERAL WEEKS LATER…**

Megatron was trying to improve his parenting skills, so he could focus more on his family. Everyone was sitting at the table, feeding the sparklings breakfast.

"It's cute, when you do that," said Gemstone, smirking as she watched Megatron rocking Megs, still not looking entirely comfortable with the idea that a sparkling was in his arms.

"No, I'm the cute one," Starscream countered, rubbing his hand against Megatron's cheek. "Megatron's the funny one."

"I'm the EVIL ONE," said Megatron.

"You should sing to them," Skywarp suggested. "You could be, y'know, the…the singer one?"

"And what would that make you?" Thundercracker said flatly. "The stupid one?"

Skywarp shrugged and smiled.

Inexplicably, Stars descended out of the air and landed on Megatron's bucket head. With a little cooing noise, he tried to crawl onto Megatron's face, getting one little blue hand in his eye and the other over his nose before he toppled right off. Megatron, reacting surprisingly quickly, reached out one arm and caught him before he bonked his head on the table.

"Wow, you just caught him," said Starscream.

Megs and Stars started squirming, since Megatron was now holding both of them, so he set them both down on the table. Stars sat down and took a little rest, while Megs grabbed onto Megatron's hand and tried to stand up.

Sparklings at that age were adorable, with tiny arms and legs, heads that seemed far too big for their little bodies, and those innocent, gigantic eyes. Not to mention the chirping and squealing and laughing and the joy they left their parents in general. When you thought of what a miracle they were—especially when it was naptime and they were quiet—it was easier to forget the dirty diapers, screaming, tantrums, biting, fights and messes that came along with parenthood.

Megs stumbled a little and gripped onto Megatron's fusion cannon, then looked down at it, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Gun!" he said, smiling and pointing down at it.

"Most sparklings say 'Mommy' or 'Daddy' as their first word," Gemstone quipped. "The one that looks like _you _said 'gun'. Figures."

"If you don't count all the times he's called me 'Nug'," Thundercracker reminded them sourly.

"NUG!" Megs shouted, apparently remembering the nickname.

"I can't believe he's talking already," said Starscream, picking the gray sparkling up.

"Why did Megs wait until now?" Gemstone asked. "Stars said his first word, like, a few months ago, didn't he?"

"Seekerlings usually talk and fly first," Starscream explained, "while grounders usually learn to walk and master their motor skills first. That's why Megs can walk and is pretty good with his hands, but can't fly yet and only said his first word now, while Stars is learning to talk and he can fly, but we haven't seen him walk yet. We've seen normal developmental milestones here."

"Stars doesn't seem to want to walk," said Megatron, observing Stars, still floating in the air. "Shouldn't he be trying?"

"Don't worry, he'll learn at his own pace," said Thundercracker. "Remember the game I taught him?"

Thundercracker took one finger and waved it all around in the air, and Stars chased it, laughing, as he always did when he played this game.

"Megs!" said Megatron. The sparkling, who knew his name, looked over at his father; having caught his attention, Megatron set up a target and blasted it with the fusion cannon. Megs' eyes were wide as Megatron asked him, "Do you think you can do that?"

"Gun," said Megs, pointing.

"Yes, gun." Megatron took out Megs' little toy gun and showed it to him. "Shoot gun."

"Shoot gun," Megs repeated. Megatron took him off the table and set him on the floor, then helped him to a standing position. Megs, on small, unsteady feet, shot his toy gun, letting one of the little plastic bullets stick to the wall.

"You'll make a fine Decepticon one day," said Megatron, scooping his sparkling up into his arms and taking him back to the table.

...

Later that day, they were all watching TV. The one-year-olds were allowed to roam freely—Megs was still practicing walking (albeit not without falling down a little) and Stars was flying, although he stopped every once in a while to visit by landing in someone's lap. Stardust was nestled in Skywarp's arms as he fed her a bottle, rocking her and planting kisses on her tiny helmet. Everyone knew that Stardust was going to grow up spoiled rotten.

Stars was on top of Starscream's helmet, chewing on it, when they heard the doorbell ringing.

"I'll get it," Starscream said, taking the Seekerling with him.

When he opened the door, the first thing their visitor did was say, "Um, Starscream, you have a sparkling on your head."

"_Skyfire_?" Starscream gasped, ignoring the comment, his jaw falling open in shock.

"Um, yes, the one and only." Skyfire stared down at his feet, looking kind of awkward. Nobody had forgotten the blowout that had occurred between the old friends after Starscream found out Skyfire wanted to join the Autobots.

Starscream's shock soon turned to anger as he gave Skyfire the nastiest scowl he could muster and asked, "So, are you just going to make disparaging remarks about my Seekerling, or are you going to say hello?"

Stars looked at Skyfire, did a loud squeal, and resumed chewing on his carrier's helmet.

"I didn't know you had a sparkling," Skyfire said.

"You didn't ask," Starscream said haughtily, then turned around. "You can leave now, Skyfire. I'll be returning to my life now."

"Don't be this way, Starscream," Skyfire pleaded. "I just want to talk to you."

"I have better things to do than talk with Autobot traitors," Starscream quipped, and pried Stars off of his helmet.

"Listen, I've been thinking, and I…come on, can we go talk somewhere where there isn't an audience?" Skyfire asked.

"Come to the Seekers' room," Starscream said reluctantly.

Starscream led Skyfire down the halls until they got to the Seekers' room. When they sat down on Starscream's bed, Skyfire started to say something, but Starscream inhaled sharply and broke down sobbing.

Skyfire opened his arms almost instinctively and let the smaller 'bot collapse onto his chassis, still crying. Skyfire just let him, stroking his wings and helmet until his tears finally started to subside. When Skyfire said, "Starscream", though, it just caused another fresh wave of tears to pour out of Starscream's eyes.

"What's gotten into you, Starscream?" Skyfire asked gently. "What makes you so sad?"

"I-I don't know," Starscream said shakily, breaking free of Skyfire's embrace and wiping his eyes. "Why did you come here?"

"It's just that, well, I missed you," Skyfire admitted.

"How could you miss me?" Starscream sulked. "I thought you didn't want to be with me any more."

"I have a good life with the Autobots," Skyfire began. "I have made many friends there and I have made much progress as a scientist. Even now, though, when I have come so far, I realize that none of them could replace my old lab partner."

Starscream knew that Skyfire wasn't simply referring to his "lab partner" as someone who helped with his scientific "gobbledygook" (as Megatron put it). Most definitely, he was referring to the times when they took a break in their research and "experimented" behind one of the lab tables, exploring the various bases in the dark, although Skyfire was kind of a prude—he would hardly ever let Starscream go past first base, and never past second.

"It's still an experiment," Starscream would say. "Except _we_'_re_ the test monkeys."

"I wouldn't want you thinking that I don't find you attractive, but…sorry," Skyfire would reply, pushing Starscream's eager hand away.

Then Skyfire would start this whole speech about chastity and how Starscream needed to stop trying to interface with every hot Cybertronian he came across, mech or femme, and how they were going to get caught, or that Starscream was going to get sparked some day and then what would he do, and that it was HIS body, and nobody else's, and blah-blah-blah, sounding less like a lab partner and more like a disapproving parent.

"Yes, it's my body," Starscream would purr, never listening to Skyfire's abstinence speech. "So I can do whatever I want with it."

Skyfire would just shake his head.

Was that what was happening now, though? Had Skyfire come to visit because he was feeling frisky? Was he asking to make it to home base? Starscream had lost his train of thought, not thinking about the conversation that was going on right now, awash as he was in his rather sensual memories.

"Starscream?" Skyfire asked. "Are you listening?"

"Oh! Yeah," said Starscream, jolting up as if somebody had just jabbed him in the ribs. "What do you mean?"

"Well, um, that brings me to my point," Skyfire said, his faceplates suddenly turning crimson. "If you don't mind me asking, um, did you—did you bond with someone? Because, y'know, the sparkling…"

Starscream paused, thinking. Skyfire wouldn't let Starscream do anything to him if he found out his old flame was already paired up with someone. No, that wouldn't do. If Skyfire was willing to make amends, Starscream was getting kind of...infatuated with him, again.

"You always warned me, I was going to have a sparkling someday, and I never believed you," Starscream said. "So I ended up having one, and I still don't know who the other parent is."

"That's impossible," said Skyfire. "On the standard test, both parents' names show up."

Starscream remembered Gemstone making this same statement, when Starscream had tried to hide the sparklings' true sire from _her_. What had the excuse been?

"_What the—you're carrying?!" shrieked Gemstone, then sat down on Starscream's opposite side. "That's adorable! When is your sparkling coming? What are you going to name it?"_

"_They'll be here in a little under five months," said Starscream, eating yet another handful of red energon, "and we haven't decided on the names yet."_

"_THEY'LL be here?!" Gemstone repeated. "Multiples?"_

"_Yes, twins," said Starscream, smiling a little. Luckily, he seemed to be in an unusually good mood today. "In fact, they were kicking for the first time yesterday…and a little this morning too."_

"_Oh, congratulations on your new little ones!" Gemstone squealed, and gave Starscream a hug. _

"_That's great news, Screamer," said Thundercracker, patting Starscream's shoulder._

"_So…who's the other parent?" Gemstone asked. "It wasn't you, was it, TC?"_

"_Definitely not," Thundercracker said quickly. "Seekers are meant to interbreed, of course, but I wouldn't ever mate with Skywarp or Starscream."_

"_So who was it, then?" Gemstone still looked curious. "One of the other jets, I suppose?"_

_Starscream almost choked on his mouthful of red energon. Thundercracker, noticing his panic, decided to swoop in and rescue him._

"_Actually, we don't have any idea who the other parent is," Thundercracker told her._

"_That's impossible," said Gemstone. "On the standard test, both parents' names show up."_

"_Well, he didn't take a test," Thundercracker lied. "We didn't know he was sparked up until it got to the point where it was obvious. That sort of thing happens."_

_Gemstone shrugged. "I guess so."_

_Starscream sighed in relief, and Thundercracker shot him a look_.

No, that wouldn't work on Skyfire. Not that Gemstone was stupid, because she wasn't, but she had been a prostitute, not a scientist. She had been a lot more gullible.

"I, um, I got it done by a medic," Starscream lied, blushing. "You know, with…with synthetic transfluid."

"So you _wanted _a sparkling?"

"Um, sure."

"Well, I can believe it," Skyfire said after a pause. "The sparkling does look exactly like you, which is a signal of asexual reproduction. Good for you."

"Something wrong with doing it the natural way?" Starscream smirked.

Now it was Skyfire's turn to blush. "Um…no."

"I like the natural way," Starscream whispered, climbing into the shuttle's lap and caressing his cheeks. "You, too?"

"Well, um, I don't…" Skyfire was blushing even harder now, and Starscream was enjoying being a tease.

Starscream laughed out loud. "I knew it! You're _still _a virgin!"

"Well, I _was _frozen in ice for millions of years," Skyfire defended himself. "It's not like I could have had a mate there."

"And you'd think you'd be more willing to mate than ever, once we got you out," Starscream replied. "I thought you'd have a sparkling too by now, or that your mate would…but you're still a prude, aren't you?"

"It's just that I've been waiting for that special someone," Skyfire said uncertainly. "And I was thinking, Starscream, that you might be that special someone."

"You mean, you want to do it _now_?" Starscream felt gobsmacked.

"No, that's not what I meant," said Skyfire. "Is that all you ever think about, Starscream? I just meant that I think we should try to be more than friends. Take it one step at a time."

Starscream thought of Megatron, how Skyfire didn't know that Starscream was already paired up with someone, and what would he think if he did know? What if Skyfire thought Starscream and Megatron were a bad match?

_Oh_, _who cares what Skyfire thinks_, Starscream thought. _I will enjoy this_.

…

Skyfire had been a little shy and nervous—actually, _very_ shy and nervous—but Starscream was experienced. After they had taken Stars to the nursery (no sparklings could be around during this time, of course), Starscream had managed to get Skyfire to third base. One thing led to another, and before long they had both hit overload.

Now they were all but exhausted, lying on the soaked bedsheets, hands clasped.

"Starscream, I don't…I've never ever…" Skyfire's voice was kind of breathy. "I've never felt anything so good in my _life_."

"Well, it's supposed to feel good."

"I mean, I didn't think, I mean, just…wow."

"It didn't hurt…did it?"

"Sort of, but not as much as it was, um…satisfying." Skyfire blushed a little bit again. "If you were inside of me before today, too, I guess I…oh, I don't know what I'm saying."

"We really should have done it on primitive Earth, _before _you got frozen in ice," Starscream quipped. When he laughed, so did Skyfire.


	10. The Other Partner

**THAT NIGHT…**

Skyfire was gone, back with the Autobots, but he had promised to visit the next day. Starscream had enjoyed spiking a valve that was completely unused, not stretched by interface and/or childbirth. Nice and tight.

Right now, Megatron was in bed with Starscream and they had just finished having a little "fun" too. Starscream wasn't feeling guilty about what he had done with Skyfire earlier. Megatron didn't know, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Starscream just continued to allow his boss to stroke his wings and kiss his helmet. Feeling dirty.

"Why did that shuttle come back?" Megatron asked.

Starscream thought back. Oh yeah! Skyfire had been subtly asking for courtship and it had ended in, well, something a little more exciting than that. _Maybe I should just_, _y_'_know_,_ not mention it to Megatron_, Starscream thought.

"I don't know," said Starscream.

"What did he say?" said Megatron.

"Well, he said he was having a really great time with the Autobots, and that he'd made 'progress', and he asked where I got my sparkling."

"You know, I thought he would know where they came from by now."

"I told him I was your mate, now," said Starscream, "and that he would have to keep his, um, urges to himself."

"So he made a move on you?" Megatron was listening now, and Starscream was thinking he'd gotten himself into a bad situation. True, ol' Megatron never stayed angry with Starscream, but maybe 'facing with someone else was taking it to a whole new level.

"Um, yeah," said Starscream. "You know Skyfire, always wanting to take it to a whole new level. Back on Cybertron, before he got frozen in ice, you wouldn't _believe _what a perv he was…Primus, was he pushy!"

Starscream could feel things cooling down a little. As long as he acted like Skyfire was the one who did a bad thing, shifting the blame to someone else, he could stay out of trouble.

"Pushy?" Megatron sounded sarcastic. "I don't think you would've put up that much of a fight, Starscream."

"Of course not, I was always…" What had been Skyfire's excuse for being such a prude? Oh yeah! "I was just, y'know, waiting for that special someone to come along."

"That special someone?" Megatron asked flatly.

"Yes, Master," said Starscream, making his voice seductive. "And I think _you _might be that special someone."

In his normal state, Megatron would probably have been able to see that Starscream was full of slag, but Starscream was seductive, plus he was a good liar, too. And he had plenty of practice being a traitor.

**THE NEXT MORNING…**

This was the day Skyfire said he would visit. Starscream was surprised to find that he was feeling kind of excited. Yes, _that _kind of excited.

"Skyfire!" Starscream greeted his friend when he arrived, much more enthusiastically than he had the day before. Making sure nobody was watching them, Starscream took Skyfire into the Seekers' room again and slammed him down onto the bed.

"Are you ready?" Starscream smirked evilly.

"Yes," said Skyfire.

They did it again, Starscream's conscience still not bothering him.

After everything was said and done, they went to the kitchen to refuel. Megatron was sitting there, Megs on his lap, reading the newspaper on his data pad. Before Starscream could do anything, Skyfire noticed that not only was little Stars there, but his brother was too, and this could only mean two things.

Skyfire pulled Starscream away and whispered, "Okay, _what_'_s _the deal?"

"What do you mean?" Starscream asked, feeling nervous.

"From the looks of the other sparkling, either Megatron got a donor like you did and reproduced asexually," said Skyfire, "or there was no donor at all and you two had those sparklings as twins."

"Um, well, you see…" Starscream was caught and he knew it.

"I'm _waiting_," said Skyfire.

"Listen, can we go to the Seekers' room and discuss it?" Starscream hissed. "I promise you we won't…you know."

Once they were in the Seekers' room, Starscream had to start from the beginning.

"Megatron and I were always 'facing, and I guess we had something, but we didn't know it, at the time," said Starscream. "Then…yeah, the little twins happened. At first I can tell you ol' Megsy wasn't happy but by the time they were born—one month early—we were together. We still are together, to this day."

"I can't believe you wanted me to 'face with you!" Skyfire looked angrier than Starscream thought he would be. "You 'faced with someone else while you already had a mate. You did a _bad _thing."

"Lighten up, will you?!" Starscream yelled back. "What Megatron doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I'm not going to do anything with you if you're already seeing someone else!" Skyfire insisted.

"Why not?" Starscream demanded. "As far as I know, _you_'_re _not seeing anybody. _You_'_re _not 'betraying' anybody. Why should it matter to you?"

"Because I don't want to be the 'other' partner, okay?" Skyfire looked exasperated. "If I knowingly help you cheat on Megatron, I'm just as bad as you are."

"I thought you wanted to save this friendship!" Starscream shouted. "I thought you wanted to make it 'something more'. And now you don't want to do anything ever again!"

"Yeah, well, I don't do cheaters." Skyfire turned away and crossed his arms.

"If it weren't for me, you would never have _done _anyone at all," Starscream snarled.

"You made me do it!" said Skyfire.

"Oh, that's rich!" said Starscream. "I cannot _believe _you sometimes."

Skyfire took a few breaths to calm down and then said, "Starscream, look at me."

"What?" Starscream still looked angry.

"Listen, I'm flattered that you're still interested in me," Skyfire began softly, taking Starscream's hands in his, locking eyes with him. "But I just can't stay with someone who's already with someone else. It's not you, it's just…I never would be able to live with myself."

"I guess so." Starscream shrugged and turned his head away.

"Now promise me we can still be friends," Skyfire pleaded. "Please, Starscream, this isn't easy."

"Maybe we could just be scientists, again," said Starscream, trying to smile a little. "Just not…you know, the same kind of partners we were. You'll still visit and everything, right?"

"Will you be loyal to Megatron?" Skyfire asked seriously.

"I never thought I'd say this," said Starscream, "but yes. Yes, I will."


	11. Science Club

**THAT NEXT DAY…**

The relationship between Skyfire and Starscream was strictly platonic—or, it was supposed to be, at least. The rules, in Skyfire's mind, were that if somebody was dating someone else, _he _wasn't allowed to do anything with that person.

However, he did visit the Decepticon base every couple days, and he and Starscream got to spend time together. Usually, they practiced science together, but every so often they would hang out in the Seekers' room and just make complete fools out of themselves.

"Okay, now I'm teaching geography," said Starscream, laughing and holding up a huge rock.

"Yes, Professor!" said Skyfire.

"This…is Cybertron." Starscream pointed to the rock. "It is our home planet. It's not really made of rock, but—oh, Primus, what is _that_?"

"It's Megs," said Skyfire. "I think he needs his diaper changed again."

"I should really _not _let him climb on my head, then," said Starscream, taking the sparkling off his head. Stars was floating in the air, as usual, but Megs (who had been sitting in Starscream's lap) decided to crawl all the way up to his head and stay there. Skyfire said it was a good thing that he was doing that, because it meant he wanted to explore his world.

"Don't worry, I'll change him," said Skyfire, taking the sparkling.

"How would you know how to change a diaper?" asked Starscream warily. "I didn't even know until I had sparklings. And I have to do it all, because Megatron won't touch them when they need their diapers changed."

"I used to sparkling-sit, remember?" said Skyfire cheerily, and took Megs to the nursery. When he came back, he gave Megs back to Starscream and said, "You know, I was thinking…"

"What?" said Starscream.

"Well, when I'm not working for the Autobots, I'm teaching an enrichment program for sparklings," said Skyfire. "It's meant to introduce the sparklings to the world of science. I have activities for sparklings as young as Stars and Megs."

"I-I don't know," said Starscream, taking Stars out of the air and holding him in his arms. "I don't know if I want them around a bunch of Autobots, especially when they're so young and impressionable."

"We're not asking you to convert them," said Skyfire. "I just thought it would be nice if we encouraged them to have a healthy scientific curiosity."

"What if the Autobots try to take them away?" Starscream asked. "I can just picture that. Prime would be saying to everyone, 'oh, look, some little Decepticons. We'd better turn them into Autobots before they know any better'."

"Don't be silly, we wouldn't do that," said Skyfire. "I mean…I don't think Optimus could bring himself to take someone's sparkling away. You gave birth to them; you are free to raise them how you wish."

"Uh-huh," said Starscream. "Right. I guess I'll think about it. Are there a lot of little Autobots?"

"Some neutrals have sent their sparklings," said Skyfire. "Actually, we're getting a lot of new sparklings. Lots of Autobots are carrying back at base, including Elita-1, Arcee, Chromia, and we think Prowl, even though he hasn't tested yet, but he and Jazz _really _wanted a sparkling so…"

"Jazz?" said Starscream.

"They've been in love for a long time, but they just got bonded, like, two weeks ago," said Skyfire. "They've been trying to have a sparkling ever since. Autobots don't really have sparklings unless they've bonded already. Um, no offense."

"Well, I didn't have these sparklings on purpose," said Starscream, watching Megs crawling around on the bed, and Stars floating in the air. "But I don't regret it."

"No, a sparkling is always good news!" said Skyfire, patting Megs' head. "So, anyway, we can sign them up for that enrichment program soon if you want. Don't you want them to learn about science?"

"Yes," said Starscream. "Look, it's still early in the day. Why don't we go now?"

**AT THE AUTOBOT BASE…**

"I'm home," said Skyfire, entering the Autobots' base, Starscream and the little twins behind him. Starscream was holding a squirming Megs in his arms, while Stars was flying. The two scientists had flown to base as a jet and a shuttle, and it was awfully convenient that Skyfire was a shuttle because he got to give Stars and Megs a ride.

"Conductin' some more 'research' with that Starscream tramp, huh?" said Ironhide sarcastically, walking into the hallway to greet them.

"_Ahem_," said Starscream, stepping out from behind Skyfire. In comparison, he was small, but he still had a nasty look on his face. Ironhide looked shocked that Starscream also had two sparklings with him.

"So, it's true," said Optimus, following Ironhide into the room.

"What?" said Starscream.

"Skyfire told us you were bonded to Megatron and had twins a year ago," said Optimus.

"We weren't bonded," said Starscream. "In fact, we weren't even dating. We were just having a little fun. Or, y'know, a lot of fun."

"Huh," said Optimus, looking like he didn't know what to say, which was Starscream's intent.

"But, you know, the old mech wasn't my first rodeo." Starscream grinned and elbowed Skyfire teasingly.

"Please, Starscream, not here," said Skyfire, his cheeks turning red.

"I knew it." Ironhide shook his head.

To Starscream's amusement, Stars flew to Optimus and started chewing on his fingers. Optimus looked a little put off.

"Don't worry," said Starscream. "That little Seekerling will chew on anything."

"Stars, no," said Skyfire gently, taking the little one away.

"What did you bring them here for?" Optimus asked, wiping his spit-drenched fingers on his leg.

"I wanted to sign them up for the science enrichment program I teach," said Skyfire. "They can do fun activities to help them expand their knowledge. Megs can walk and Stars can fly, and they're both learning to talk."

"Optimus! Optimus!" Bumblebee was yelling as he suddenly darted into the room. "You won't believe what happened! Guess! Guess!"

Ironhide smacked Bumblebee on the head. "For spark's sake, half-pint, spit it out!"

"We found out Prowl was going to have a sparkling!" said Bumblebee. "They're so excited!"

"Well, that is good news," said Skyfire. "Tell them I'm very happy for them."

"C'mon, tell them yourself!" said Bumblebee. "We can—oh! Starscream! Why are you here?"

"What was your name again?" said Starscream.

Bumblebee introduced himself then asked, "Are those yours? Skyfire told us you had sparklings a year ago!"

"Yes, I did," said Starscream. "And they're going to join Skyfire's scientist enrichment program."

"Oh, yeah, I'm taking that class right now!" Bumblebee shouted. "It's so fun! C'mon, I'll show you where to sign them up!"

"Um, yeah, sure," Starscream mumbled, and, taking his offspring with him, he followed the Autobots into the main monitor room. Prowl, Jazz, and Ratchet were there, all looking very happy.

Finally, Ratchet walked up to them and said, "Well, we got the results from the sparkling test back, and they—"

"Yes, Bumble-butt told us," said Starscream.

"Congratulations," Skyfire told them both, smiling.

"Thanks," said Prowl.

"Anyway," said Skyfire, "all you need to do is put their names into the computer. Then bring them here next week for their first class."

"Can they stay here for an hour or two and play with the Autobots?" asked Bumblebee. "I've never had some sparklings to play with before! Not even a brother or sister."

"We're going to have lots of sparklings very soon," said Optimus. "Chromia's sparkling is coming in only about eight weeks, remember? Arcee is past her due date and my own sparkling will be here in about six months."

"You better be prepared." Starscream smirked. "It's awfully hard to shoot your enemies when a tiny person is throwing up all over your shoulder."

Starscream and the little twins ended up staying at base until dark. Since there were four Autobot sparklings on the way, two of them very soon, the whole base was sparkling-proof and there were plenty of toys to play with. Stars liked to chew on them, which they couldn't stop him from doing, and they had all the future parents come in to meet the sparklings, just to know what it would be like once they had their own.


	12. Sparkling Shower

**SEVERAL WEEKS LATER…**

"Guess what?" Skyfire said as he walked into base with Starscream. "Elita-1 and Optimus are inviting you to Elita-1's sparkling shower."

"You give the sparkling a shower?" Starscream asked. "I thought it wasn't supposed to be born for another five months or so. How would it even stand up? You're supposed to give it a bath, and let me tell you, they don't like that either."

"No, no," said Skyfire, laughing. "It's a party for when a carrier is supposed to have a sparkling soon. We're going to 'shower' Elita-1 with gifts, for her and Optimus's new sparkling. And who could pass up the chance to buy little sparkling toys and accessories?"

"Um…I don't know," said Starscream. "My twins got presents on their Creation Day, but nobody ever threw _me_ a sparkling shower. Rude, you might say."

"Not if your friends don't know what one is," Skyfire pointed out. "You didn't, so nobody else did, either, probably. Besides, Decepticons don't seem to be the type to go around having sparkling showers."

"Why are they inviting me?" Starscream asked.

"You have sparklings," said Skyfire, "and you're a friend of mine."

Starscream smiled and squeezed Skyfire's hand; he could have sworn he saw a blush in the shuttle's cheeks, but neither of them let go for a second either.

"So, um, anyway…" Starscream cleared his throat and snatched his hand away from Skyfire's. "We could ask Skywarp to come too. Believe me, he _loves _sparklings. Right now, he already has one, and he told me he wants to have another one when she gets to be a little older. In fact, he told me he was jealous that I got to carry sparklings, and that the pain of childbirth is what induces the carrier's love. I told him he was crazy because, y'know, where did he come up with _that_? I told him I would rather do a nosedive into a pile of rocks than have to give birth again."

"Well, I've never _had _a sparkling, but it is a really great experience to watch one being born," said Skyfire. "Arcee's was born a couple weeks ago. Ratchet ended up having to induce labor, but the sparkling ended up fine, and I got to hold him."

"And you cried," said Starscream.

"Yes," said Skyfire.

By then they had entered the kitchen, where everyone was having breakfast. Skywarp, good father that he was, held Stardust in his lap while she drank her bottle. Stars was teething again, insisting on biting Megatron's fingers, while Megs crawled around on the table, playing with the fusion cannon.

"Megs, get out of there, that's dangerous," said Starscream, pulling the sparkling away before he could crawl down the barrel of his sire's gun. "Please, Megatron, could you try to pay better attention to them?"

"Good mommy," said Megatron, not looking up from his newspaper app, which earned him a kick in the shin.

"I say go ahead and eat his fingers, Stars," said Starscream angrily.

"Indeed," said Skyfire. "It's good. It's a sign he's developing motor skills. This is about the time when he should be spending a little bit more time on the ground, since he's spent about a year getting around by instinctive flight."

"Well, he mostly crawls on us," said Megatron. "And he likes to bite me."

"And all three are so cute," said Gemstone, reaching over and stroking Stardust's helmet with one finger. "I'm so happy we have them."

Starscream picked up both sparklings, cuddling them in his arms, hoping nobody saw the tender smile on his face. What with everyone's hectic lives, and his duties as a parent, Seeker, scientist, _and_ warrior, it was sometimes hard for Starscream to focus entirely on one thing. When he gave his full attention to his twins, though, he could feel the bond he had with them, and if he stood completely still he could almost feel their sparks beating again. Okay, maybe Skywarp had a _little _bit of a point. The carrier bond was a sacred thing. No matter what, Starscream would never forget the day they were born.

_Only a few minutes later, Starscream had fallen back onto the repair table in relief, Twin Two was here, and it was over._

"_Oh, wow," Skywarp whispered._

"_What? What happened?" Starscream frantically put his knees down and tried to sit up, but fell backwards onto the bed. "Is something wrong with him?"_

"_No," said Skywarp. Moonbeam handed him the sparkling, and he set it in Starscream's arms, tears in his eyes. "He looks just like you."_

_Starscream stared down at the impossibly tiny sparkling, a shocked expression on his face. Twin Number Two did look exactly like his carrier, from his wings to his black helmet to his bright blue forearms. He was crying, a lot, his little blue hands balled into fists. His wingspan was probably only a foot or two long, and he was even smaller than Rumble or Frenzy._

"_Oh, he's so beautiful, Starscream," Gemstone whispered. _

"_Couldn't I hold the first one too?" Starscream asked._

_Megatron handed over the other sparkling, who was no less perfect, and Starscream held both of them, one in each hand. The look of wonder and amazement on his face didn't go away—he couldn't believe they were actually here._

_Skywarp got to hold Stars, and Starscream let Thundercracker and Gemstone hold Megs. Thundercracker held Megs in his palm (using the one arm he had left), and Gemstone kissed his little helmet. Then both of the sparklings were handed back to their carrier. By now, they had drifted into peaceful stasis._

_When he got them back, Starscream put both Megs and Stars in one hand and held them close, so they could feel his spark beating again and know that he was still there—and always would be. For the past eleven months, they had felt and been comforted by his sparkbeat every day, and it was where they felt safest. The bond hadn't broken at all. Stars reached out both his tiny blue arms and latched onto Starscream's thumb, his wings twitching a little in his sleep._

Starscream kissed both little helmets, trying to stop tears burning in his eyes, but he couldn't. As far as Starscream was concerned, little Stars would never let go of his finger.

"They're sweet, aren't they, Starscream?" Skyfire whispered knowingly.

"Um, yeah, they are." Starscream reddened and cleared his throat again. "Well, anyway, what do you guys say to going to a sparkling shower?"

"What's that?" they all said at once.

"Well," said Starscream, "it's when a carrier's about to have a sparkling, and…they throw a party for it. I guess."

Skyfire explained it a little better. "Optimus Prime's girlfriend, Elita-1, will be having a sparkling in about five months. So Chromia and Arcee—also new mothers—have decided to 'shower' her with sparkling gifts, like bibs and toys and bottles and stuff. You can also play games, like 'Baby Hot Potato' or 'Diaper the doll while blind-folded'."

"That is so _cute_! Of course we'll come!" Skywarp cried. "WON'T we?"

"Um, sure," said Thundercracker. "We can all go, and we can bring the sparklings."

"If only we'd known about sparkling showers earlier," said Skywarp. "We could've given one to Starscream, and one to Gemstone."

"It's okay." Gemstone smiled. "You know a healthy sparkling was all I wanted."

**AT THE SPARKLING SHOWER…**

Most, but not all, of the Autobots came to the sparkling shower. Some of the mechs decided they would be "busy", but most attended the shower, and all of the femmes did. Skywarp had readily accepted, and Thundercracker went because of Gemstone, and Megatron didn't want to go but Starscream had forced him to.

They held it in the main monitor room. Both Chromia and Arcee were giggling like nitwits as they placed pink-and-blue-themed decorations all over the room, such as pink-and-blue streamers, pink-and-blue balloons, pink-and-blue energon cubes, pink-and-blue napkins and tablecloths and chairs…and so on. It was so convenient, too, that Chromia was blue and Arcee was pink. There was also a centerpiece, a basket with a little doll and a rattle. Elita-1 was sitting in the hostess chair, holding Arcee's new sparkling. Everything was very, very cute.

Of course, the Decepticon guests were not used to cute things, and especially not sparkling showers, which were the epitome of cuteness. Megatron looked a little pained, like he was hoping there would be hatred or suffering somewhere; Starscream was holding Megs, while Stars happily hitched a ride on his carrier's helmet. Thundercracker and Gemstone were holding hands, and Skywarp was carrying Stardust.

"All right, you made it!" Arcee giggled, running up to her Decepticon guests. "Oh, and you brought your sparklings! How cute!"

"Can I hold one? Please?" asked Chromia, right behind her.

Skywarp clutched his Stardust a little protectively, but Starscream let Chromia and Arcee hold one twin each.

"Oh, they're so adorable," said Chromia, who was cuddling Megs. "I can't wait until I can hold my _own _sparkling in my arms instead of in my spark chamber."

"I've never held a Seekerling before," added Arcee, who got to hold Stars. "Does he fly?"

"Of course," said Starscream. "It was something he didn't need to be taught."

"Well, they are all adorable," said Chromia, handing Megs back. "You wouldn't believe how happy we Autobots are that we got all these sparklings. We've got Prowl's, and mine, and Elita's, and Arcee's…"

"I love my sparkling," said Arcee. "I'm letting Elita hold him."

"She looks happy, doesn't she?" said Gemstone.

"Yes," said Arcee. "By the way, I don't think I've met you. What's your name?"

"I'm Gemstone," said Gemstone, sticking out her hand. "I joined the Decepticons about a year and a half ago. Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too!" said Arcee. "It must be great to have another femme to talk to."

"More than you know," Gemstone replied.

"Well, anyway," said Chromia, "it's time to start the baby shower."

"Yay!" said Arcee.

"All right," said Chromia, walking to the center of the room. "First, everyone is going to present their gift, and our lovely hostess will open them. Who wants to go first?"

"Um, we will," said Starscream. "On behalf of your new sparkling, Megatron and I present to you…scarves. You know, to keep the sparkling warm."

Starscream handed out the black and blue scarves his mother had knitted, trying not to feel too guilty. It was for the best, anyway, right? Stars and Megs clearly didn't like them, and Elita-1 needed a gift, so…everything worked out.

"Thank you," said Elita, taking the scarves.

"I got you some diapers," said Thundercracker, taking out his gift. "I thought you might want something, um, practical."

"Diapers?" said Elita. "Um…thank you kindly."

"I got you this nice little stuffed android creature!" said Skywarp happily. It was a gigantic stuffed android, white with pink polka-dots. There was a big smile on its face and hands for cuddling.

"Oh, so you _do _still have that thing," said Thundercracker.

"This is a new one," said Skywarp, blushing a little as he looked at the stuffed android. "Surely you know that I wouldn't give a _used _gift!"

"Only, the real reason is that you don't want to part with _your_ huggy android." Starscream smirked.

"Well, it helps me sleep at night," Skywarp admitted. Thundercracker just shook his head…but it seemed that the mother-to-be in question liked the gift just fine.

"This is the most _adorable_ thing!" said Elita, squeezing Skywarp's gift. "I know the newborn sparkling will just _love _it!"

"Except when she throws up all over it," said Starscream.

"I don't understand it," Thundercracker grouched. "I give her something perfectly useful for her sparkling, and Skywarp gives her his useless huggy android thing, but she likes it better?"

"TC, baby, femmes _hate _useful gifts," Gemstone whispered. Gemstone's gift was the same one she had given to the little twins on their Creation Day, some bath toys. After Elita had opened everyone's gifts, it was time for the fun part…games.

"Our friend Elita has suggested that we play 'Baby Hot Potato'," said Chromia. "The rules are simple. All we have to do is toss a baby doll around in a circle while we play a lullaby. Whoever is holding the doll when the music stops is out. We keep doing this until one 'bot is left, then whoever it is gets a prize."

"So, basically, we make complete fools out of ourselves?" said Megatron.

"Shut up, Megabutt," said Gemstone.

"We get to play a lullaby?" said Skywarp. "Hey, Soundwave, get over here, I know the _perfect_ song!"

Skywarp couldn't play in the game, because he had to hold Stardust and protect her ("I can't just lay her down on the _floor_, can I?!") but everyone else played (except for Arcee, who agreed with Skywarp and cradled her own sparkling in her arms). It was good for the little twins to be on the floor, because it helped them practice crawling and walking.

Obviously, the song Skywarp chose was "Que Sera, Sera", his sparkling Stardust's favorite lullaby, and Soundwave was instructed to start and stop it every so often. Megatron got out on purpose because he didn't want to be holding a doll, but everyone else kept playing until the last person was Jazz—fitting because he was a sire himself. Prowl, the carrier, hadn't come because the first month of carrying wore him out, but Jazz went to the party because he thought parties were fun.

"Good job, Jazz!" said Chromia, walking up to him and giving him a little box of blue-and-pink dyed energon goodies. Then, with a rather amused smirk on her face, she announced, "Oh, and we can't forget the booby prize, can we?"

Arcee and Elita giggled.

…

"This diaper is VERY humiliating," Megatron said as Starscream finished tying it onto him with a safety pin, trying (and failing) to contain his laughter as he did so.

"So, the rules are that you have to wear the diaper until the end of the party," Chromia told him, smiling.

"My, my, Megatron," said Starscream between fits of hysteria. "You can pull off _any _look, can't you?"

"Like to keep in style, huh?" Gemstone added.

"Well," said Elita, walking over to them, "it's quite fitting for our next game."

"Feed the Sparklings," said Arcee.

As it turned out, "Feed the Sparklings" turned out to be a very…interesting game. First, the guests split up into teams of two. One was the parent, one was the sparkling. Then the "parent" fed the "sparkling" some sparkling fuel with a spoon. Megatron, being the one who was diapered, was the sparkling, while Starscream fed him. Most of the couples teamed up, although others had come single—Chromia had come, but her mate, Ironhide, obviously had not, so she fed Jazz. Meanwhile, Arcee's mate hadn't come either, so she fed Skywarp.

When the party was over, everyone was allowed to socialize (even though Megatron still wasn't allowed to take his diaper off). Most of the focus was on the hostess, of course, but Starscream got some time to socialize with Skyfire.

"The little twins really enjoyed their time in Science Club, I think," said Starscream. "Wouldn't it be great if they grew up to be scientists, just like us?"

"Yes, it would," said Skyfire. "That's why I started this program. There is no better asset than intelligence."

Starscream looked up into Skyfire's bright blue eyes, remembering what they had done, and how it had felt so good. It was so confusing sometimes. 'Facing with Megatron felt great, but doing the deed with Skyfire wasn't so bad either.

There were two different relationships here—Starscream and Megatron, their unique relationship that they had held since before the little twins were born, and Starscream and Skyfire, being two scientists and old friends. Starscream was happy that they'd made up, but he couldn't help but wonder if he did want courtship, but he didn't want to leave Megatron either, not truly. The truth was that he couldn't have both.

All he could do was give Skyfire a hug, tell him he had a good time at the sparkling shower, and let him know that his sparklings would be coming next week for more Science Club.


	13. Sleepover

It was late at night. Thundercracker was in the guest room bed, Gemstone curled up in his arms, sleeping peacefully. They had just ended a _very _fun session of 'facing, and Thundercracker knew that his Gemstone hadn't lost her touch. So what if he got a used valve? After all, she had slept with plenty of other mechs, but above them all, she had chosen Thundercracker.

And he had chosen her. To this day he didn't know why he had been in love with Moonbeam; she was a rotting piece of dirt. Skywarp still wanted her back, but Thundercracker was hoping she wouldn't come back, because then the whole mess would start all over again. Skywarp, in Thundercracker's opinion, had to learn that he didn't need a femme to complete him. Along with his daughter, Stardust, he should be perfectly fine.

Thundercracker pictured how he would feel if he suddenly walked in on Gemstone cheating on him. Of course, he knew she wouldn't do that, but it would have devastated him. Maybe Skywarp didn't need Moonbeam to complete him, but Thundercracker needed Gemstone to complete him—she was his "other half".

_I don_'_t want to lose this femme_, Thundercracker thought, and his eyes went wide as he jerked up, a crazy idea passing through his mind. It was so obvious—but he'd have to talk it over with someone first. Thundercracker crawled out of bed and made his way to Megatron's suite, where Starscream stayed.

Predictably, the door was locked. Thundercracker cursed under his breath, realizing he would need to find another way inside—and besides, he didn't want to wake Megatron up. So he contacted Starscream through the Trine bond. At first Starscream didn't respond but eventually it woke him up.

Starscream jolted up in bed, feeling his spark chamber giving off a signal to him. It was probably the twins again…but he couldn't hear them crying in the nursery, and this wasn't a distress signal; it was more like a simple invitation to talk. Starscream realized it must be one of his brothers.

"Yes?" Starscream mumbled as he got out of bed and opened the door.

"It's me," Thundercracker whispered. "Listen…can I ask you something?"

"I don't know," said Starscream. "It's awfully late."

"But I—oh, come on, please?"

"Fine. What is it?"

"I-I think I want to ask Gemstone to marry me," Thundercracker blurted out.

Starscream stared for a moment, then said flatly, "Tell me, TC, are you on something or did you just have really good interface?"

"Um, one of those things, maybe," Thundercracker mumbled.

"Well, marrying her won't ensure that you get any more of it," Starscream pointed out.

"That's not the only reason I want to propose to her," Thundercracker protested.

"You're a mech _and _a Seeker, just like me," said Starscream. "Is there anything else we ever think about?"

"Listen, Screamer, I'm serious about this," said Thundercracker. "I love her! I want to be with her for the rest of my life! I don't know, it's just…I've never felt this way about any other femme."

"Well, if you want to get bonded to her, go ahead." Starscream shrugged.

"I don't know…do you think it's a bad idea?" Thundercracker asked.

"If I said no," Starscream said, "you would insist that it is a good idea. Wouldn't you?"

"Well, I-I, um…" Thundercracker found himself reddening.

"I know you, Thundercracker," Starscream told him. "You've been in short, superficial relationships with all kind of femmes, and you've taken most relationships at face value. If you really love a femme enough to think about more than 'facing, it _must _be right."

"Do you—does that—?" Thundercracker stammered.

"Take good care of her, friend," Starscream said softly. "And have a happy wedding day. I'll be there."

**THE NEXT DAY…**

Skyfire arrived at base to pick up Starscream and the little twins for Science Club. Starscream smiled and ran to greet him at the door—as usual, he had Megs in his arms, and Stars was riding on his helmet.

"Hello, Starscream," said Skyfire. "How are you?"

"Fine, and my little twins are, too," said Starscream. "They're excited for Science Club."

"Aw, they're growing into little scientists," said Skyfire, looking like he was going to cry. "Oh, Starscream, these are just the cutest little twins I ever did see."

"Thank you," Starscream said graciously. "They got that from their carrier."

"Could I hold one?" Skyfire asked.

"Sure," said Starscream, prying Stars off his helmet and handing the Seekerling over. Stars immediately started to chew on Skyfire's fingers.

"Stars is chewing on my fingers," said Skyfire.

"Yes," said Starscream. "That means he likes you."

Skyfire held Stars in one arm and gave Starscream a hug with the other. "Well, I'm so happy you love your life here."

"Thanks." Starscream smiled. "Now why don't we get these little rotters to Science Club?"

"Why, yes, let's go." Skyfire headed outside, with Starscream following him. Once outside, Skyfire transformed, and Starscream carefully set both little twins in the shuttle. Starscream turned to jet mode then, and they took off.

**AT THE AUTOBOT BASE…**

There were several other sparklings at Science Club, some as young as Stars and Megs. Skyfire had different activities for different ages, but they started out with the one for very young sparklings.

"What are we going to teach them today?" Starscream asked.

"Well, since these little ones are just learning to talk, I teach them vocabulary," said Skyfire, taking out a little book. One of the pages had a picture of Cybertron. "Repeat after teacher: Cybertron. CYBERTRON."

"Cybetwon," said one of the sparklings.

"Good, good!" Skyfire nodded. "You see, Starscream, they can repeat what I say, but the trick is to get them to associate the word with the picture."

Starscream wasn't pleased with Stars, who flew up to Skyfire and started chewing on the textbook.

"Get down from there right now, mister," said Starscream with a sigh of frustration. "I swear, some days these sparklings of mine…"

Skyfire laughed and set Stars on the ground. "It's okay."

The two of them did more vocabulary with the younger sparklings, then it was time to work with the ones who were around four or five years old.

"Look who we have to teach us, today!" Skyfire pointed to Starscream.

"Stahsqueem!" said one of the sparklings, crawling up to Starscream and hugging him.

"Autobots getting along with a Decepticon," said Skyfire warmly. "These are the sparklings of the future."

"Today, we're going to be learning who scientists are and what they do," said Starscream, not sure how to answer what Skyfire had just said. "Now, how would you all describe science?"

"What is science?" Skyfire clarified.

"I know! I know!" shouted one of the sparklings.

"Remember what we do before we answer a question?" Skyfire reminded him.

"Raise hand," the sparkling said, then raised his hand. "Science is…is when you build stuff!"

"It's when you put stuff in the—in the—" Another sparkling was imitating using a test tube, but he didn't know what the name was.

"You mean a test tube," said Starscream, showing one to the sparkling.

The sparklings all gave their answers to what they thought science was, and then Skyfire said enthusiastically, "Do you sparklings want to hear a secret?"

"YES!" they all screamed.

"You all can be scientists too!" Skyfire told them. "You see, a scientist is a person who asks questions and tries different ways to answer them. Scientists want to know everything about everything."

"Scientists use the Scientific Method," Starscream added. "If you're wondering, that's basically a method of procedure that characterizes natural science, consisting of systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, plus the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses."

"Those are some big words, friend." Skyfire laughed as he looked at all the staring young faces.

"You're the one who likes to teach them vocabulary," Starscream joked.

"Okay, so, today we get to learn about different kinds of science," said Skyfire. "It depends on what you study—you could be an engineer, like our friend Wheeljack, remember him? Or you could study life, like a biologist, or you could study space, like an astronomer, or you could make potions, like a chemist."

"Yeah, you can learn how to make gunpowder!" said Starscream.

The sparklings laughed, and so did Starscream. They spent the rest of the day learning about science, and Perceptor let them play around a little in his lab—as long as they didn't break anything, of course. Just as Starscream was preparing to take the twins home, they heard the rumble of thunder.

"Uh-oh," said Skyfire. "Usually, where there is thunder, there is an approaching storm."

"So we've got to make it back before the storm hits," Starscream told him. "I'll transform and you put the twins into the cockpit, okay? I'll fly them home."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," said Skyfire. "The storm is going to get bad before you get back to the Nemesis. All that wind and rain makes it hard to fly, plus lightning—electricity—is attracted to metal. If you aren't shocked by the lightning, you will get lost in the rain and crash. Is that a chance you really want to take when you have such precious cargo?"

"Well…no," said Starscream. "With my sparklings on board, I guess I can't attempt to fly in a storm, but then I'd have to stay overnight."

"Just contact your base and let them know, then you can leave in the morning, when the storm has passed," Skyfire told him.

"O-Okay," said Starscream, and dialed Megatron's number.

"Starscream," Megatron said sharply. "Why have you not returned?"

"I was going to leave, but I can't fly home in a storm when I have our sparklings on board," Starscream told him. "I'm going to have to stay with the Autobots overnight."

"Return to base this instant!" Megatron commanded.

"I'll be back home in the morning," said Starscream, and hung right up. "Well, Skyfire, it looks like we're going to have a sleepover!"

"Wow," said Skyfire. "We're having a sleepover?"

"Yes, we are," said Starscream. "We can stay up 'till dawn and watch scary movies! We can do prank calls and blow stuff up and chug energon 'till we're _sick_!"

**DAWN…**

Starscream and Skyfire did have a fun sleepover—they weren't allowed to drink all of the energon, but they did drink a lot, and they played in Perceptor's science lab when he wasn't looking. They prank-called Megatron, speaking in funny voices, asking him if he ordered fifty pounds of mustard. They watched scary movies and got themselves hilariously freaked out, then drank some more energon. They didn't get in bed until about five in the morning. They planned to stay there until maybe noon, or two, or whenever they felt like waking up.

"I never knew how much fun a sleepover could be," said Skyfire, laying next to Starscream in the bed.

"Sometimes it's important to just unwind and enjoy yourself every so often," said Starscream.

"I'm glad we aren't fighting anymore." Skyfire wrapped his arms around Starscream, making the jet feel small in comparison. Even so, Starscream loved the hug, and snuggled into him.

"I missed you, Skyfire," Starscream told him. "When you were in the ice, I mean. Years and years passed, but I never forgot you. Whenever something reminded me of you—when it was your birthday and nobody was there to celebrate it, or when I heard someone speak in Vosnian, or even when I had to do lab experiments all by myself—Primus, I couldn't stand it. The reason I didn't tell my friends about you wasn't because I'd forgotten you; it was because it hurt too much to talk about."

"Well, I'm here now," said Skyfire, hugging Starscream tighter. "You'll never have to feel that way again. Ever."

"Oh, Skyfire," Starscream whispered, drawing the shuttle into a kiss. "I've got to have you. Can't we end this sleepover with _one _more fun thing?"

"Starscream, I can't do this with you," Skyfire reminded him apologetically.

"Yes, you can," Starscream purred.

"But I thought you were with Megatron," Skyfire protested.

"Not anymore." Starscream looked up at Skyfire, grinning, red eyes gleaming. "I'm leaving him for you."

"You—you're _leaving _him?" Skyfire, understandably, was gobsmacked.

"Yes, I am," Starscream said confidently. "I'll tell him when I get home. For now, what do you say, you old prude?"

"Now that you are free, you are cheating no longer," said Skyfire softly. "I accept your courtship."


	14. Broken

Starscream and Skyfire finally awoke sometime around one in the afternoon. Starscream was curled up in Skyfire's arms, remembering what had happened last night. Oh, it had been just wonderful and guilt-free.

Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Starscream sat up. Skyfire was smiling at him.

"Do you want to grab some brunch before you head home?" Skyfire asked.

"Of course," said Starscream, and they went to the kitchen. Most of the Autobots, already having eaten, were sitting in the main monitor room. Starscream and Skyfire grabbed their energon cubes and sat down on the couch; Skyfire put his arm around Starscream, who snuggled into the gentle giant.

That was when Prowl stormed into the room, screaming about something, with Jazz and Ratchet chasing after him. Jazz had a towel around his waist and he looked panicked; Ratchet was obviously thinking, _Why me_?

"Jazz, if you take all the hot water again, I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!" Prowl hollered.

"No! Nobody's going to murder anyone!" said Ratchet, but Prowl and Jazz completely ignored him.

"Prowl, I'm sorry!" said Jazz. "If you would just—"

"Oh, and you stole all the covers last night too!" Prowl interrupted him. "I guess you hate me now! And did you at least tape _Cybertron_'_s Next Top Model _like I asked?"

"Wait, what?" said Skyfire. "Oh, scrap, I thought you hated that show! I taped over it!"

"YOU TAPED OVER IT?!" Prowl yelled. "Have you no respect for your fellow sentient beings?"

"Take it easy, Autobot, it's just a tape," said Starscream.

"WHAT IS A DECEPTICON DOING IN OUR BASE?!" Prowl demanded. "Last time I checked, _I _was the security officer here, and I say NO DECEPTICONS ALLOWED!"

"Listen, Prowl, calm down, please," Ratchet soothed, wrapping his arms around Prowl. "Jazz will go buy you some brand-new DVDs and watch them with you. How does that sound?"

"And I'll let you have all the covers," Jazz added. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Prowl mumbled, and Jazz gave him a hug. Then they left the room. Ratchet put his hands over his face and sighed exasperatedly.

"What's with him?" said Starscream.

"Prowl's been in the family way for about a month now," Ratchet explained. "This has been happening quite frequently."

"Well, carrying sparklings takes some getting used to." Starscream shrugged. "I nearly killed him for this, but Thundercracker told me I was acting like a sparkling myself during that slagging first trimester. I basically treated everyone like scrap, but it was because I felt like scrap myself."

"Everything will be okay…for now," said Skyfire. "Jazz will buy Prowl some DVDs of _Cybertron_'_s Next Top Model_, which he used to totally hate."

"And then, a few minutes later, he'll fly into a rage again." Ratchet sighed.

"I can join you back at the Ark later today," said Starscream, suddenly serious. "But first I have to do something."

Skyfire looked at Starscream and nodding solemnly; he knew what his new lover meant.

**BACK AT THE NEMESIS…**

Starscream transformed and gently took the little twins out of the shuttle. Once they were free, Skyfire transformed too, and they entered the Decepticon base.

"I'm going to do it now," Starscream whispered to Skyfire, taking Megs in his arms and letting Stars ride on his head. "Then we can go back to the Ark."

"Got it," Skyfire whispered back.

Starscream's spark was beating quickly and he felt like he was going to throw up, but he knew this was something he needed to do. So he crept up to Megatron's suite and jiggled the doorknob. It was locked, so he started pounding on the door; finally, Megatron answered.

"Welcome home, Starscream," said Megatron, expressionless.

"Megatron?" Starscream's voice was shriller than usual. "I-I need to tell you something. Something important."

"You're not carrying again, are you?" Megatron snapped. "If you are, it had better be mine."

"What? No!" Starscream let out a nervous laugh. "It's just…oh, how can I say this? I just did some…some reflecting while I was at the Ark last night, you see, and I…"

"And you what?" Megatron's poker face was making Starscream nervous. _What is his reaction going to be_?

"You're a good mate and everything, Megatron," Starscream began, "but I have to let you know that…I've found someone else. I'm sorry."

Starscream could have sworn Megatron's eyes flashed red for a moment, but his face, experienced in keeping the inside off-limits, still reflected no emotion, unhappy or otherwise.

"Is it the shuttle?" he asked.

"Yes, and he has a name," said Starscream. "Skyfire."

"So you'll be going back to the Ark."

"I will," Starscream told him. "I don't know when I'll be coming back, but you can count on me not becoming an Autobot, at least."

"Indeed," Megatron said quietly. For now, he was taking it well, and Starscream was thankful for that, but his strain would surely crack soon, and _then _what?

"Oh, and that reminds me," said Starscream. "Decepticons don't have rules for this, but Autobot custody law says I take the sparklings with me. You can still see them every once in awhile, of course, but, well, they come to the Ark. I brought them, so you can say goodbye."

Starscream pried Stars off his helmet and held him out, along with his brother. Both sparklings were making little cooing noises and waving their arms. Megatron held the little twins, one in each arm, and kissed both tiny helmets.

"Goodbye, sparklings," said Megatron, handing them back; Starscream could have sworn his soon-to-be-ex's voice cracked a little. "Daddy loves you."

Starscream continued to try to read Megatron for emotion, but he could not.

"I'm sorry," he repeated quietly. "But Seekers go where their sparks lead them, and this is where mine is leading me."

"And this is your final word on the subject?" said Megatron, his voice monotone.

"I'm afraid so," Starscream whispered.

"So be it, then," said Megatron, turning away and heading back into his suite. "May you prosper with my replacement."

"Megatron!" said Starscream, but the door shut in his face.

Starscream's face was flushed as he came out of Megatron's suite, carrying his sparklings, all set to go back to the Ark and start a life with Skyfire. Nobody was asking Starscream to convert, but Skyfire was going back to the Ark, and Starscream and the sparklings were going with him.

"Did you do it?" Skyfire asked.

"If you mean dump him for you, then yes," Starscream replied.

"What happened? How did he take it?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Starscream shrugged. "Never frowned, never smiled. All he did was ask me if I was sure, and when I said I was, he left."

"Well, he's Megatron." Skyfire shrugged. "You know, he took it like a man."

"It's weird," Starscream admitted. "I mean…we're together now, aren't we? That's great, but I still…I don't know."

"I know what you mean, friend," said Skyfire softly, putting one hand on Starscream's shoulder. "Just because you dumped him for someone else—namely, me—doesn't mean that you don't care about him anymore. Breaking up is hard for both parties."

"Right," said Starscream. "Now, turn to shuttle mode so we can take the little twins back to the Ark, and we can get them some lunch. I'm sure they're starving."

"Of course, but Starscream?"

"What?"

"I just wanted to tell you how much I love you," Skyfire whispered. Being a giant, he could easily pick Starscream up, so he hoisted the jet into his arms; Starscream wrapped his arms around Skyfire's neck while Skyfire held him like a sparkling.

"I love you too, Skyfire," Starscream told his new mate.

Little did they know, as they loaded up the sparklings and left for the Ark, that Starscream's ex had witnessed it all.

…

Megatron was sitting in his office chair, turning an energon cube over in his hands, trying not to look at the abandoned crib in the corner. On his desk was a framed photo of him, Starscream, and the little twins; it had been taken only a few days after they were born, before Stars could even fly yet. In the picture, Starscream was smiling, both of the tiny newborns sleeping in his arms, and Megatron's arm was around his mate's shoulders. In the other hand he held one of the twins' bottles.

Megatron's black fist reached out and smashed the photo frame to pieces.

"Starscream will pay for his treachery," was what Megatron wanted to say; he wanted to feel anger, and a lot of it. All he really felt, though, was that some kind of mutant space alien being was trying to claw its way out of his stomach.

As most inhabitants of the Nemesis and everyone with a working CPU knew, Megatron did not like to talk about "feelings". Most of his followers doubted he even _had _feelings. What then, what was that feeling he'd gotten when he had when Starscream was about to die and the only thing he could think of to do was give him an energon transfusion? What about the way he felt when he had Starscream wrapped up in his arms, listening to him breathe softly while he slept? What explained away his reaction when he held his sparklings for the first time, and the time earlier today, when he had to let them go? Those little lives he knew, at least to some extent, that he was responsible for?

And what about the way he felt _now_? At this point, he had been with Starscream for over two years, and Starscream had left him for some old scientist creature he'd scooped out of an iceberg. Megatron and Starscream had a relationship together, sparklings together, a _life _together. How could Starscream just give that up like it meant _nothing _to him?

"Maybe it didn't mean anything to him," Megatron mumbled, letting his bucket head smash onto his desk. There he stayed, trying to understand what was going on, until he heard footsteps behind him.

"Lord Megatron," he heard a robotic voice say.

"What is it, Soundwave?" Megatron snapped, turning around in his chair to face his most loyal follower.

"Query: status?" said Soundwave.

"I'm FINE!" Megatron yelled.

"Negative: telepathic rays read otherwise," Soundwave stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Megatron demanded.

"Telepathic rays do not compute," said Soundwave, basically saying that: Starscream hurt Megatron's feelings. This was not logical to Soundwave, so although he picked up the unusual signals coming from Megatron's CPU, the reaction to the breakup had simply resulted in an error message.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Megatron hollered, furious at how vulnerable this was making him feel. "I have no spark! So help me, I just might rip the cogs out of everyone on this slagging Primus-forsaken ship and that includes you!"

"Megatron: superior," said Soundwave. "Starscream: inferior."

"Oh, so you think this is about Starscream, huh?" Megatron growled. "Well, I'll have you know, I don't care about him, and I don't care about the sparklings, and I don't care about any stupid relationship he thinks we had, and I don't care about the fact that he and I were going steady for two years—TWO YEARS—until that stupid shuttle came along!"

"Megatron: jealous," said Soundwave.

"JEALOUS!" Megatron picked up Soundwave and tried to throw him against the wall, but he just couldn't do it. To be sure, he wasn't sure if he was actually _jealous_, but he did know, deep down, that he would love to trade places with the one who got to hold Starscream tonight.


	15. Burning Love

**SEVERAL DAYS LATER…**

"Megatron must be really upset about Starscream leaving him, huh?" said Thundercracker casually. At this moment, he and Gemstone were spread out on the guest room bed, having just finished a great session of interface.

"I don't think so," said Gemstone. "If he is, he's not showing it."

"Well, that's what he calls his 'poker face'," Thundercracker explained. "Nobody knows for sure what he's feeling, or if he's feeling anything at all. I guess in theory he could be fine, but for all we know, he could be tortured on the inside, and he won't let anybody know about it, ever."

"That's not healthy," said Gemstone.

"Actually, I think he's found a way to deal with it," Thundercracker told her. "You see, I just heard them all leave for the Cybertronian Mechs' Club. I guess Megatron wants to cope by getting drunk off his aft. I know you don't like going to the Decepticlub, but we would really appreciate it if you did. To support him, I mean."

"I suppose." Gemstone smiled. "After all, I stopped being a prostitute a long time ago. What's wrong with a party?"

"Thanks, Gemstone," said Thundercracker. "You'll enjoy your time there, trust me."

…

Thundercracker and Gemstone flew to the Cybertronian Mechs' Club (Thundercracker in jet mode, Gemstone in robot mode), and by the time they finally arrived, they were both itching for the party.

"Well, we're here," said Thundercracker as they landed. "Here, why don't you go in first?"

"Um…okay, whatever." Gemstone shrugged and walked into the party.

There, waiting for her, were all the Decepticons, even Starscream, who'd come from the Ark just for the occasion. The bartender cheered and offered her a free drink; Skywarp ran up to her and tearfully cried, "Congratulations!" Even Megatron shot off his gun a little in celebration. Gemstone was confused until Thundercracker burst into the room behind her.

"How is it, hon?" he asked, grinning.

"What's going on?" said Gemstone, still confused.

"Oh, baby, this isn't some let's-get-drunk-to-get-over-a-breakup party," Thundercracker said warmly, placing his strong hands on her shoulders and giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "It's your engagement party."

"It's _what_?" Gemstone's red eyes went wide.

Thundercracker snapped his fingers and all the partygoers shouted, "WILL YOU MARRY HIM?!"

"Gemstone," said Thundercracker, still keeping one hand on her shoulder. "These past couple years we've been together are much better than any other years in my life. I didn't know what I was missing. You're all I ever wanted. Will you marry me?"

Thundercracker knelt to the ground and held out Gemstone's ring, smiling hopefully. Of course, he wasn't prepared for her reaction—he found himself full-frontally glomped by Gemstone, who was laughing and laughing and screaming, "Get out! Get _out_!"

"Is—is that a yes?" asked Thundercracker, standing up and taking her with him.

"Of course it's a yes!" Gemstone shrieked, and knocked him backwards again. "_Get_ _out_!"

"Now that's a super-flying-tackle-pounce if I ever saw one," Starscream quipped. "What are you waiting for, moron? Give her the ring!"

"It's so pretty," Gemstone breathed as Thundercracker placed the ring on her finger, and as soon as he was done, she threw her arms around his neck and kept saying, "Oh Primus! Oh for the love of Primus!"

"Well, what better place to propose than the place we met, hon?" said Thundercracker, shrugging.

"Oh, TC, I love you!" Gemstone shrieked, and kissed her new fiancé.

"Hey, everybody make some room!" Starscream hollered, then shoved Thundercracker out onto the dance floor. "The floor's all yours, buddy!"

"Crank it up, Soundwave!" Skywarp added. Right now, he couldn't stop laughing and he looked almost as happy as Gemstone. Soundwave played a fast song, and the happy couple raced onto the dance floor that had cleared just for them, Gemstone laughing through her tears, Thundercracker's blue wings perky and twitching with happiness as he pulled her hand.

They stayed on the dance floor for the remainder of the song, shaking their tailpipes off, having the time of their lives. By the next song, the dance floor was filling up again, and everybody was dancing, good or bad. Except for the already-established couples, the patrons switched partner after partner and swung each other faster and faster, keeping in time to the beat if they were sober enough, singing along if they knew the song.

"Oh, what an engagement party!" Gemstone cried, throwing her head backwards with joy as she danced with Thundercracker.

Finally, they decided they had to take a break. Gemstone had her free energon; in fact, the bartender refused to charge any of them for the drinks that night.

"This time it's on the house," he said warmly, shoving a drink to the groom-to-be.


	16. Journey in Space

**BACK AT THE ARK…**

Skyfire was holding Megs in his arms, helping him eat his lunch. Starscream was on the floor, trying to teach Stars how to walk. Starscream helped Stars stand up and held his hand as he tried to take a few steps. Before he'd walked far, though, the Seekerling let out a whine and started to cry.

"What happened?" Starscream asked, gathering the little thing into his arms and kissing his helmet.

"Maybe he's just not used to being on the ground," said Skyfire. "After all, he is a Seekerling."

Stars kept on crying. Starscream stroked his sparkling's small wings and whispered, "Daddy's here…Daddy's here…"

"Like I said, he's probably just scared," Skyfire repeated. "You need to give sparklings time to be sparklings."

"Part of the problem is, he doesn't have the energon he really needs," said Starscream, standing up with the little one in his arms.

"What are you talking about?" said Skyfire. "We have plenty of sparkling energon here."

"Seekerlings need a special kind of energon to help them reach their full potential," Starscream explained. "There's none of it here."

"Speaking of potential," said Skyfire, "I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me on my latest trip to the planet Tutrices. What do you say?"

"Never heard of it," said Starscream.

"Tutrices is the nearest planet to Vosnia," Skyfire explained. "It's a planet devoted entirely to younglings and their parents. There are all kinds of species there from all kinds of planets. I usually go there to teach science in the Education department, but now that you brought these sparklings into base, I figured maybe we could take them to Playgroup and have them play with creatures from other worlds. It would be a great way for them to make friends and learn."

"Do all kinds of species live on Tutrices?" Starscream asked.

"No," said Skyfire. "Extraterrestrial species only visit. The dominant species, the Tutrians, are the only ones who live there. They're great at what they do—taking care of younglings from all over the Universe."

"When do you want to go?" asked Starscream, cradling Stars in his arms until he finally stopped crying.

"Tomorrow," said Skyfire. "What do you say?"

"Okay," said Starscream. "It sounds interesting enough."

**TOMORROW…**

Starscream helped the little twins aboard the shuttle, and then he transformed himself. The two scientists then took off, going as fast as they could so as to break Earth's gravity. It was nice to be out flying in space…that is, until they saw something dangerous.

"METEOR SHOWER!" Starscream yelled, swerving to avoid one of the ballistic meteors.

Skyfire shouted something in response, but Starscream didn't catch it. They were hit by the meteors, trying to dodge the bigger ones and ignore the smaller ones. As they flew on, banging into meteors and into each other occasionally, Starscream felt a distress signal coming from the carrier bond, but there was nothing he could do for it now.

"Starscream! Quick!" Skyfire called. "Land!"

"What do you mean, land?"

"I see a planet or something! LAND!"

Starscream quickly descended onto the planet below and turned back into robot mode. There were several scratches, but nothing serious. What he was mostly worried about was the sparklings in the shuttle.

"Skyfire?" Starscream waved his hands. "Come down! Are the sparklings safe?"

The carrier bond was saying no…but as Skyfire landed and Starscream took the little twins out of the shuttle, his spark seemed to calm down a bit. It seemed the twins were more scared than harmed in any way, and they could be thankful for that.

Starscream had Stars and Megs wrapped up in his arms, trying to calm them down, and Skyfire turned to robot mode.

"I'm glad that's over," he said. "Although, Starscream, I think one of your sparklings puked inside of me."

"Gross," said Starscream. "Not that it's anything new, though. They love to puke on me."

"So…where are we, exactly?" Starscream asked.

"Well, according to my built-in GPS, we seem to be on one of Vosnia's moons," Skyfire replied. "It isn't one of the inhabited ones, though. Just barren landscape, as you can—"

That was when they heard a panicked voice coming from a short distance away. "Come on, calm down! It's okay! I'll start it, I promise! Just—just—oh, no! You stupid spaceship! AUGH!"

"Hello?" said Starscream. "Is somebody there?"

"I don't see anyone," said Skyfire. "C'mon, let's go look."

"Can you hear us?" Starscream shouted. "Answer if you can!"

"Who's there? What do you want?"

To the two scientists' surprise, a panicking, malnourished-looking mech came scrambling into view. The mech was a Seeker, obviously having departed from Vosnia. Heaving a great, gasping breath, he collapsed onto the ground, groaned, and rubbed his temples.

"Are you okay, Sir?" asked Skyfire, walking over and helping him up.

"No," the mech whined. "You've gotta help me! We're stranded and I don't know where we are and my spaceship, I don't know why I flew it, it's not even mine, but we—"

"Calm down," said Skyfire. "You're among friends here. Where's your spaceship?"

Instead of calming down, the Seeker started to panic even more at the mention of his spaceship, but he beckoned for Starscream, Skywarp and the little twins to follow him anyway. As they approached a smoldering, smoking excuse for a spaceship, they heard a femme screaming.

"What was that?" said Starscream.

"That's—that's my girlfriend," the mech said, starting to wipe tears. "She's been in labor for like four hours now, so we tried to fly to Tutrices because we don't really see a medic at home, it's too expensive, times are tough, y'know, so we had to rent a spaceship, but we didn't have enough money for a good one, so we had to get one that crashed in the middle of nowhere and we're all going to die!"

"You're only on one of Vosnia's moons," Skyfire explained, drawing the shivering, whimpering mech into a hug. "You're not going to die and your girlfriend and sparkling are going to be just fine. We'll help you."

"Why did you rent a spaceship?" Starscream asked. "Don't you have one of your own?"

"Nobody has anything where we're from," the mech said sadly. "We're from an old ghost town on Vosnia. Except for the Seekers who live there, nobody knows it exists. Hardly anybody ever comes or goes. We rented a bad spaceship because that was all we could afford. I don't even think we'll be able to afford the medic who delivers the baby."

"No, the entire pediatrics division is free," Skyfire reassured him. "So they deliver sparklings for free, too, plus you can get free home sparkling tests there."

"Is that why you're going?" the mech asked, sniffing.

"Um…no," said Starscream. "We're just taking my twins to Playgroup to meet some new friends."

"Usually I go to Education and teach the little ones beginning science," Skyfire added. "But since we're bringing these sparklings along, we thought we'd go to Playgroup instead."

"Question," said Starscream. "If this child-care planet does everything for free, where do they get their income from?"

"They don't do everything for free," Skyfire explained. "Carrier-Support, Pediatrics, Newborn, Playgroup, and Education are all free, but they make money off of Restaurant, Babysitting and Gift Shop."

"They have a gift shop?" Starscream asked.

"Yes," said Skyfire. "They sell all kinds of sparkling stuff there. Sir, after your sparkling is born, we'll buy you some diapers, plus a meal for you and your family, okay? We'll even buy some special energon for the sparkling."

"Thank you," said the mech, who was still trying (unsuccessfully) to recover from his panic attack.

"Starscream, I'm going to check on his girlfriend," said Skyfire. "You try and keep him from going crazy, all right?"

"Listen, he's a shuttle, okay?" said Starscream. "You and your girlfriend can hitch a ride."

"My sparkling and my girlfriend are both going to die!" the mech cried, waving his hands all around in the air.

"No, they're not," Starscream told him. "We'll get you to Tutrices on time. Besides, I had two sparklings about a year and a half ago, and I'm still here. When you leave Tutrices, not only will you be a couple very much in love, you'll be a family with a new sparkling. Won't that be nice?"

"Mm-hmm," said the mech shakily. "Are you guys from Vosnia, too?"

"No, we're from Earth."

"What's Earth?"

Starscream sighed. "It's nothing special."

"Can I hold one of your sparklings?" the mech asked tentatively. "Like I'll be holding my own?"

"Sure." Starscream handed baby Stars to the mech.

"Wow, he looks just like you," said the father-to-be, stroking Stars' wings. "The other one doesn't look like you _or_ your mate, though, I noticed."

"Well…um, he and his brother were sired by somebody else," Starscream mumbled, remembering that Megatron had been the first one to hold the miniature gunformer. Megs was uncannily in his sire's likeness, making him hard to forget.

"_You aren_'_t happy to be having offspring_?" _Megatron asked_, _stroking Starscream_'_s wings until his sobs subsided_. "_Not even a little_?"

_Starscream lifted his head and shakily wiped his eyes_. "_I don_'_t know_. _Maybe_."

"_Turn around and lay on your back_," _Megatron instructed_. "_Shouldn_'_t they be moving around by now_?"

"_Well_, _I feel this weird sort of_…_fluttering thing_, _more often than not_," _Starscream told him_. "_I don_'_t know what it is_."

"_May I_?" _asked Megatron softly_, _holding out one hand_.

_Starscream nodded_. _Why bother to argue_?

_With more gentleness than Starscream knew he had in him_, _Megatron placed his hand over the quite visible bump under Starscream_'_s cockpit that contained the sparklings_. _For a few moments_, _nothing happened_, _but then Starscream bolted up_.

"_Did you feel that_?" _he gasped_.

"_What_?" _said Megatron_.

"_I swear I felt them_…_kick or something_," _Starscream said breathlessly_, _falling backwards onto the couch again and placing his own hands over his sparklings protectively_.

"_Is this the first time you_'_ve felt this_?" _Megatron asked_.

_Starscream grabbed Megatron_'_s hand and pressed it on top of the sparklings again_. _After some waiting_, _there it was_, _the sensation of the twins kicking for the first time ever_.

"_Yes_, _yes it is_," _Starscream whispered_. _This time_, _the tears that shone in his eyes were those of joy_.

Starscream stroked Megs' helmet with his finger, at a loss for words.

"Did he—did he die?" the mech whispered.

"No," said Starscream. "I left him."

"But you two had sparklings together!" the mech gasped, looking gobsmacked. "How could you do that to him?"

"Because I no longer love him," said Starscream shortly, crossing his arms and turning away, but the mech didn't take the hint.

"What was he like?" the mech asked.

"Well, judging by the sparkling's appearance," Starscream replied, "you should know exactly what his sire was like."

"How?" said the mech, looking at Megs. "I-I mean, he looks just like any other sparkling."

"What, do you live in a cave or something?" Starscream snapped. "You haven't heard of Megatron?"

"Who?"

"Megatron."

"I don't know who you're—"

"MY EX!" Starscream hollered. "MY EX IS NAMED MEGATRON! OKAY?!"

"Starscream, what are you screaming about?" asked Skyfire, coming into sight again. The femme having the sparkling was in his arms.

"I was _trying _to tell this mech here about my ex—Megatron—and he has no clue what I'm talking about!" said Starscream.

"Don't ask about the breakup," said Skyfire. "Because, y'know, he doesn't like to talk about it."

"That's right." Starscream nodded. "And I think _some _mechs should keep their questions to themselves."

"I'm sorry," said the mech. "I guess I'm not really in my right mind. Sir, is my girlfriend okay?"

"She's going to be all right," said Skyfire. "I think we can get to Tutrices on time. She can ride with the twins, and you two can follow me, okay?"

Starscream placed the little twins inside Skyfire the shuttle, and the mech helped his girlfriend inside. Then Skyfire lifted into the air, followed by Starscream and their new friend.

**WHAT WILL TUTRICES BE LIKE? STAY TUNED AND FIND OUT!**


	17. Playgroup

After some flying, everyone arrived on Tutrices. It was a nice little planet. The species that dominated the planet, the Tutrians, looked strange—kind of like oddly-colored, giant cats, about the same size as your average Seeker when on their hind legs. They usually walked on all fours, long tails swaying from side to side, fine-tuned ears twitching, but they did occasionally stand upright when the task at hand called for it.

They wore clothing, which differed depending on who wore it, although no one wore shoes. The doctors wore lab coats; the workers wore clothing that made it easy for them to work. Almost everyone decorated themselves with unique, beautiful accessories. Like all cats, they appeared to be mysterious, graceful, and refined.

"Here's where you get off," said Skyfire. Starscream and the stranger helped the mother-to-be and the twins off the shuttle, and they headed to the check-in office, where there was a huge line.

"Oh, no, not a line!" the mech groaned.

"It's gonna come out, it's gonna come out!" his girlfriend cried.

"Don't worry, honey, I'll fix it!" said the mech, stroking her wings. "Just—just don't panic!"

"Are you saying that to yourself or to your girlfriend?" Starscream asked sarcastically. "Because you seriously need to chill."

"Look, the line is moving," said Skyfire, pointing.

Sure enough, the line was moving, albeit rather slowly. Skyfire and Starscream's new friends weren't the only ones about to become parents, and there were also a ton of screaming newborns in line, as well as toddlers misbehaving and fighting. There were several well-behaved children, but most of the line was chaos. There were a lot of Seekers, probably because this was the closest planet to Vosnia, but there was an equal amount of all kinds of other aliens, ranging from humanoid types that walked erect to aliens that looked rather like fleshy blobs with eyes.

It seemed like forever until the group got to the front of the line, where a Tutrian wearing a blue-and-white uniform was waiting for them. Right now, he looked exhausted and a little grumpy, his fur matted and messy, his ears twitching.

"Welcome to Tutrices," he mumbled, his voice monotone. "Um, let me guess, labor and delivery?"

"Yes," said the mech. "And we're kind of in a hurry."

"We'll get you to a room," said the cat. Moments later, the couple was seized by two cats in lab coats, who quickly proceeded to pull them away.

"Listen, Starscream and I will meet up with you before you leave, okay?" Skyfire called. "Don't forget about that free meal we promised."

"Thanks for everything!" the mech told him, waving, and they disappeared from sight.

"Let me guess," said the cat flatly. "You're here for a sparkling test?"

"That's the second time I've been asked that," said Starscream. "Do I _look_ like I need one?"

"No, but it's mating season on Vosnia," the cat explained. "During Seeker mating season, we always get like fifty Seeker couples a day, at least, usually either about to have a sparkling or wanting a sparkling test. Here they stay, until mating season is FINALLY over. Your friend and his girlfriend are going to be staying here for a few days after they have the sparkling, so the carrier has time to recover."

"Well, we don't need a sparkling test," said Starscream. "I already have twins."

"We're going to Playgroup," Skyfire added. "I've been here before, so I know where it is. We don't need an escort or anything."

"Good, because I'm in charge of this stupid line," said the cat, scowling. "Go have fun…if you can stand it."

"That's not a good sign," Starscream whispered as they walked away. "That cat seemed kind of grumpy, don't you think?"

"I guess he's working overtime or something," said Skyfire. "But he's right. Mating season can get pretty hectic if you're on a planet where Seekers are the dominant species. I felt so bad for that mech and his girlfriend."

"We can wait for them in Pediatrics until after their sparkling is born," said Starscream.

"Of course." Skyfire nodded. "I hope everything will be okay."

"Don't worry about it," Starscream told him. "These cats look like they know what they're doing."

When they reached Playgroup, it was a little shocking. There were tons of strange aliens—little things that looked like creepy garden gnomes; slimy green balls with arms and a face but no legs that got around merely by bouncing; blobs; things that resembled shellfish, caterpillars, or other earthly animals; creatures that looked Cybertronian or Vosnian; and everything in between.

Skyfire kneeled on the ground and Starscream followed suit. Starscream set Megs down and tried to pry Stars off his head, but Megs ran back into Starscream's arms and Stars wouldn't let go, no matter how hard Starscream pulled. Then, without warning, both of the sparklings started to cry.

"Oh, no," said Starscream.

"No, sparklings, please don't cry," said Skyfire, picking Megs up and rocking him, but Megs wouldn't stop crying. Neither would Stars.

"Oh, _no_," Starscream repeated as a distress signal started to form in his spark chamber. "What happened?"

"I think they're scared," Skyfire whispered.

"But what are we going to do?!" Starscream cried. "They're supposed to be having fun and meeting new friends, not crying!"

Stars' wings were drooping and twitching a little, while Megs was squirming in Skyfire's grasp, trying to get free as he kept screaming. Starscream's distress signal was starting to hurt now, and all the other parents at Playgroup were beginning to stare.

"Um, we're fine, nothing to see here," Skyfire told everyone, his cheeks a little pink. "Don't worry!"

"Mind your own business," Starscream added, glaring.

"I think they'd be better off with you." Skyfire sighed and handed the sparklings to Starscream. "Not that I don't want to help, but I mean, they probably want to be with their parents, that's all."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Starscream sadly, holding the little ones close to his spark and kissing their helmets.

"_I can't believe I turned half of my office into a nursery for YOUR poopy babies, Starscream," said Megatron, picking up Megs and following Starscream into the nursery. _

"_They're OUR poopy babies," Starscream corrected him, pulling Stars out of the air and putting him in the crib. Megatron set his sleeping brother down next to him; soon, both of them were sound asleep._

"_I-I guess they're okay when they're in stasis," Megatron admitted._

"_See, Megsy?" Starscream smirked. "We started a family. Peace and prosperity."_

"_Prosperity, maybe," said Megatron. "But I don't know if we're going to get much peace out of these two."_

"_Well, it's all part of raising sparklings, isn't it?" Starscream smiled and cuddled Megatron._

"_I don't know," Megatron grunted._

"_I missed you, sweetie," Starscream cooed. It was hard to tell if he really was feeling loving towards Megatron, or if he was just trying to be annoying._

_Megatron sighed and kissed Starscream's helmet. "I missed you too, honey."_

_Despite the fact that the sparklings were still right in front of them, Starscream drew Megatron into a long kiss. Starscream's hands were on Megatron's faceplates, while Megatron placed one hand on Starscream's wing, the other on his aft. Once the kiss was over, they slowly separated, smiling at each other._

"_Your suite is right off the nursery," said Starscream. "If we try, we can make up for lost time."_

"_Let's go," Megatron whispered, gently taking Starscream's hand and leading him away._

Was that what was making the sparklings cry? Did they miss their sire more than Starscream had expected? What if they thought Skyfire was no replacement for Megatron? What if they had been missing him ever since they left, and all it took was a journey to another planet and some strange aliens to finally set them off?

"Don't cry, don't cry!" said Starscream, holding the sparklings tight, hoping the feeling of his spark beating would calm them down. Starscream covered them in kisses and stroked Stars' drooping wings.

"Starscream, are…are you okay?" said Skyfire.

"Sure, but I don't think the little twins are." Starscream kept rocking them. "My distress signal won't go away."

"Are their diapers full?" Skyfire asked. "Did they eat?"

"I would know if their diapers were full, because they start to stink," said Starscream. "And I fed them before we left. They're scared and they want to go home."

"Well, to be a good parent, you can't just take them home like that," another one of the parents told him. This parent was relatively humanoid, and could walk on two feet, but she was covered completely in smooth pink fur and had antennae. She was kneeling on the ground, watching her furry little offspring play.

"What do you mean?" Skyfire asked, leaning over and kissing Megs' helmet.

"Don't get me wrong—it's important to pay attention to your children," said the alien parent. "But if you coddle them and don't have them interact with others, they grow up clingy and dependent. Why don't you have your twins say hello to my baby? How old are they?"

"About one and a half," said Starscream. "What about yours?"

"She's nearly two," the mom replied. "Maybe they could be friends. My baby's very well-behaved."

"I wish I could say the same for these little rotters." Starscream sighed.

"Oh, don't be silly, they're adorable," said the alien. "Raynata, say hello to, um…?"

"Stars is the Seekerling—the one who looks like me," Starscream told her, still rocking the two of them. "Megs is the groundling. They're both mechs."

"This is Raynata," said the alien. Raynata was covered completely in purple fur, and she also had two antennae. She looked kind of like a stuffed animal.

"Hewwo," Raynata said, waving.

"My sparklings don't talk that much yet," said Starscream. "Megs can say 'shoot gun'…Stars said 'Daddy' a couple of times…and some other stuff—y'know, he talked first 'cos he's a Seekerling, and he's the one who flies, but groundlings are better at walking and using their motor skills and all that…"

"I see," said the alien, smiling. "I would assume you were from Vosnia, but one of your twins is a groundling."

"Actually, he's a gunformer," said Starscream. "Of course, he's a very _small_ gun."

"Our current galaxy is the Milky Way," Skyfire added. "We hail from an organic planet called Earth."

"It's dangerous to fly a lot of the time, especially if you have passengers," said Starscream, snuggling the sparklings. "There are always these lightning storms and metal conducts electricity, plus it rains so if you don't get electrocuted, you'll crash into something because you can't slaggin' see."

"Starscream, it doesn't—" Skyfire was going to tell Starscream that Earth was a good science experiment opportunity, but he got cut off.

"And don't even get me _started _on the life there," Starscream continued. "Lots of the species aren't even ten feet tall, so you always step on them and they get all over your feet. Plus you wouldn't _believe _the pathetic insects that are the dominant species—the humans. They're one-hit-kill, and they're sort of just soft and fragile in general. They have to wear ugly clothes so their fleshy little pink butts don't show."

"Starscream!" said Skyfire, but the alien mom just laughed.

"It sounds like a strange place," she said. "I might visit someday, if it isn't too far. Ever since I divorced my husband, I've been trying to expose Raynata to all kinds of experiences. I thought we might go to Tutrices since it isn't too far from our home planet."

"You divorced your husband?" Starscream asked. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing, he was just cheating on me," said the alien, shrugging. "It seemed like he was more in love with this other female, so, well, we decided to go our separate ways."

"Sounds like what happened with me and _my _mate," Starscream mumbled, remembering how he'd left Megatron for about the same reason.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," said the alien mom, mistakenly thinking that Starscream had been on the receiving end. "But on the other hand, look how well our children are playing."

Raynata and the little twins were happily playing. Megs was shooting his toy gun and standing up; Stars was flying around and laughing. Raynata was standing up too and waving her arms, antennae bouncing up and down. Starscream realized the distress signal in his spark had faded away to nothing. The sparklings were happy again.

After a nice afternoon of playing—maybe about three or four hours—Raynata and her mother left for their home planet. Starscream and Skyfire waved goodbye, and Starscream peacefully gathered the tired little ones into his arms.

"We should probably get them something to eat," said Starscream. "I'm sure they have Seekerling energon here, considering this is the childcare planet _and _the closest planet to Vosnia."

"Of course, and—wait a second!" Skyfire jerked up. "Remember, that Seeker couple, y'know, the ones with the sparkling? We said we'd buy them some diapers for their new sparkling, plus a free dinner, too."

"That's right," said Starscream. "C'mon, we can stay in the waiting room."

They went to the Gift Shop first. Starscream bought the diapers, and Skyfire got them a "Congratulations on Your New Baby" card, plus a giant stuffed animal with a bow around its neck. Then they bought some energon for the sparklings at the restaurant, and headed to the maternity ward to wait for their new friends.

Starscream and Skyfire arrived at the planet around three, and now it was around seven. Lots of families came in and out of the rooms. Starscream fell asleep, his head on Skyfire's shoulder; the sparklings (also asleep) were cradled in his arms. Skyfire drowsily kept checking his watch. To be honest, he desperately wanted to go home, but he would never ditch the new parents, even if he _had _just met them.

Finally, at about 9:30 PM, the new sire carefully stepped out of one of the rooms, glanced around, and when he saw Skyfire and Starscream waiting there, he burst into tears.

"What happened?!" Skyfire, suddenly feeling wide-awake, jumped up and ran to the Seeker mech. "Is everything okay?"

The mech wrapped his arms around Skyfire and nodded; at that point, Skyfire knew he was crying with happiness.

"It's a girl!" he kept saying, over and over. As was the case with most Transformers, he was small compared to Skyfire, but Skyfire was a gentle giant. Smiling warmly, he picked the sobbing mech up and stood him up on his feet.

"We got you some presents." Skyfire picked up the stuffed animal and the card and gave them to the new father. The mech hugged the stuffed animal and quickly read over the card, his smile growing even wider.

"Thank you," he said. "Um, do you—do you want to come meet her?"

"Well, if it's okay with you and your girlfriend," said Skyfire, and he shook Starscream awake.

"Lemme alone," Starscream mumbled, turning away.

"Screamer, the sparkling is born," Skyfire whispered. "Don't you want to come see her?"

After a little more prodding, Starscream sat up and yawned. "Fine, okay, whatever."

The three of them entered the hospital room, where the two cats in lab coats were waiting for them, plus the mech's girlfriend. In her arms was a tiny femme Seekerling.

"Wow, she's beautiful," said Skyfire, slowly approaching the sparkling. To his surprise, she reached out and latched herself onto his finger, which was even bigger than she was.

"Aw, she likes you," said the new mother.

"What did you name your little femme?" Skyfire asked.

"Well, since she's a Seekerling," the mech's girlfriend replied, "we named her Hanel. It means 'sky'."

"I think that name is lovely," said Skyfire warmly.

"When you're feeling up to it, we can go get some grub," said Starscream.

"They got you this new sparkling card, my love," said the mech, handing his girlfriend the card. She read it over and smiled.

"Welcome to the world, little Hanel," said Starscream, holding his own sparklings tight, and everyone smiled.


End file.
